The True Story of Ichigo Kurosaki
by Fyrius
Summary: After the fall of Aizen, Ichigo's power wanes. Though he tries to hide it, a single tear changes the future, flinging Ichigo from one world to another. A boy accustomed to sitting back and assisting in the fight for Earth now faces himself at the forefront of two battles. As he learns how to use his newfound powers, Jeremie seeks to find the answer to the question, who is Ichigo?
1. Introduction

**A.N. While writing my last story, I began reading other works, thinking of ideas that would make them better. Unlike my last story, this has no known ending as yet and will not be continuously worked on. However, it will not be abandoned easily. Please understand that while my knowledge of Bleach only lasts until the last episode aired as an English Dub, I have not seen it in a while and will deviate. Some liberties were taken in the interest of a good story while others are purely accidental.**

** Code Lyoko however is extremely accurate and any mistakes are due to my dislike of certain factors. As stated below, the story takes place after the Aizen incident. On the Lyoko side, this takes place after the events of Season 4, not long after. I do not own Code Lyoko or Bleach. Thank you.**

No one wakes up one morning and says I will become a hero. No one wakes up one morning and starts a war. Some of us know what they are getting into the instant they do while others never know. As with many adventures, this one starts with a memory. Where it ends is yet to be seen…

…

Ever since he was a little boy, Ichigo Kurosaki had been able to see the dead. Though on the outside he was a thuggish boy, Ichigo was actually quite kindhearted. The orange haired boy had one close friend, a tall Spanish boy by the name of Yasutoro Sado or Chad. One day, this all changed when a fateful encounter showed him another side of death, that of the souls tasked with protecting the dead. When his family was put at risk by his own actions, Ichigo did the only thing he could, he stabbed himself with a sword that was made of spirit and became a guardian of the dead, a Soul Reaper.

However, being a Soul Reaper was not easy. Little did he know at the time that the method he took to become a Soul Reaper spelled the death of the Reaper whose sword he had used. With the help of a now gifted Chad, a strange boy named Uryu, and a girl in his class, Orihime Inoue, Ichigo invaded the home of Soul Reapers, the Soul Society. There, he learned about his powers and saved Rukia. After this, he was thrust into many situations and became a partial member of the Soul Reapers, finally being accepted by them.

One day, Ichigo had unlocked his full power and took that power to the maximum to stop a traitorous Soul Reaper who captained the fifth of thirteen squads. At that fight, he gave up his powers as a Soul Reaper… Or so everyone thought. However, the sword of the Soul Reaper, the Zanpakuto has a way of never letting go if they want something badly enough. This story takes place after the attack on the false Karakura Town. The Muramasha incident, though long past is still fresh on the minds of all involved, something that will play a big part. The Head of all the squads, Captain-Commander Yamamoto was so frightened of the incident below that he wrote an alternative history.

Normally, I would tell my brother I was writing this but I believe that I owe Ichigo this one thing. If this story ever got out, I do not know what would happen. However, it needs to be told and at times my own Zanpakuto, Sode no Shirayuki seems to be almost controlling me as I write this. My name is Rukia Kuchki, Lieutenant of the 13th Court Guard Squad and this is the true story of Ichigo Kurosaki.


	2. Ichigo's last

"Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiichigoooooooooooooooo!"

Ichigo Kurosaki ran his hand through his bright orange hair absentmindedly. When his friend Keigo ran up to him, the teen was quickly jolted awake. However, the boy shrugged and walked past, heading to his class. He could feel his Soul Reaper powers fading fast, faster than Urahara had said they would and though he was a tough guy who had worked on his image for many years, mentally he shed a tear. Unfortunately, this reminded him of his Zanpakuto, Zangetsu's pet peeve, the rain. At this, the boy froze and turned around.

Although she was supposed to be in the Soul Society, Rukia Kuchki felt she should see how Ichigo was doing with his slow loss in power. She quickly met up with strawberry blond Orihime, long black haired Chad, and straight black haired Uryu Ishida. The group turned around at the sound of footsteps only to see Ichigo turn around. Though this in itself was odd, the thing that gave Rukia the greatest shock was the tear she saw glinting on his cheek. Looking at the other three, she ran to catch up to him with the others following close behind.

Ichigo threw the door to the men's restroom open and then collapsed to the ground, tears falling like a tidal wave on his cheeks. He had no idea why he was crying and he didn't feel sad enough to do so but somehow he was crying. _What's wrong with me?_ The boy asked himself.

_Ichigo…_

_ Z-Zangetsu?_

_ Nothing is wrong with you Ichigo. It's… Oh I so don't like the rain but…_

_ But what?_

_ This time, it's my fault._

_ What do you mean?_

_ That one tear you hid from the world made me realize I don't want to see you leave. _

_ But why am I crying?_

_ You're not, I am._

"Ichigo."

Ichigo looked up to see Chad and Uryu sitting next to him on the cold tiles. At this, he wiped his face with his hand and spoke up, "Chad? What are you doing here Uryu? I thought you couldn't become friends with a Soul Reaper, something about the honor of the Quincies?"

Uryu, a human who could fight hollowed out souls using a spirit bow known as a Quincy ignored the remark and asked Ichigo, "What is wrong? Why are you crying?"

"I'm not."

"You were."

"But Zangetsu is."

The two got a shock when they saw Ichigo's eyes were not his normal hazel brown but instead a deep brown. "Ichigo, your eyes!" Rukia called from outside the room.

In response, Ichigo looked at himself in the mirror. "Zangetsu?" He asked and then rubbed his eyes. He then looked at himself in the mirror again and saw they were hazel again.

Seeing this, Rukia paused to think. "Ichigo, I think we need to take you to the Soul Society."

Ichigo paused for a moment and then nodded, "Alright."

The Kuchki Senkaimon slammed shut, the double doors vanishing. As they did so, Ichigo crumpled again, this time to be caught by Chad. Next to Chad, Uryu noticed that Ichigo's school uniform was turning into a Soul Reaper Shihakshu but with more ragged edges. Ichigo's eyes flew open again and he gasped, brown eyes tight with pain. Catching himself in a puddle of water, Ichigo screamed, "What is happening to me?"

"Ichi!" A little girl's voice called. Everyone except Ichigo, who could not hear her, turned around to see a tall scarred man with an eyepatch and a girl's face peeping from a shoulder staring at them. Before they could say anything, Ichigo let out a scream and the Shihakshu and strange eyes changed back to a school uniform and hazel.

The man, Kenpachi Zaraki, Captain of Squad 11 quickly knelt. "Yachiru, go tell old man Yamamoto. You." He pointed to Chad. "Put him on my back and tie him to me. I won't let Ichigo die."

"Captain Zaraki." Rukia said. "We came here to talk to Captain-Commander Yamamoto as soon as this happened. Please take him there."

"Hmph, I guess I can take him to Old Man Yamamoto."

And so began a race with Kenpachi, an ever-changing Ichigo strapped to his back in the lead. Behind him ran Rukia and after that came Uryu. Lagging further and further behind were Chad and Orihime as they could only run at human speeds. At last, Kenpachi arrived at his destination, the Squad 1 Barracks. Too unnerved to stand on ceremony, Kenpachi threw the door open only to be met by a quick call of, "What is the meaning of this?"

"Where is Yachiru?"

"Yachiru?" The Head-Captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, an old bald man by the name of Genrei-Sai Yamamoto stood up and stared at the captain of Squad 11 in confusion.

Kenpachi sighed and then turned his back to Yamamoto.

Yamamoto was ready to say something sharp when he noticed Kenpachi's cargo. "What is Subsitute Soul Reaper Ichigo Kurosaki doing here?"

At the familiar voice, Ichigo opened his eyes, "Wha-what is happening to me?"

"What are you doing here?" Yamamoto asked.

"I-Rukia brought me." Ichigo frowned for a moment, "Or is this a dream? It has to be…"

_Pull yourself together king!_

Ichigo screamed, "Get out of my head you!"

Yamamoto moved to grab Ichigo but was halted by the entrance of Rukia.

Too caught up in his own problems, Ichigo continued screaming, "I already told you, I'm not your king and you aren't some stupid horse! I don't want your damn killer instinct; I just want to protect people!"

As the last word died out, Ichigo began to scream. As the group (with Uryu now here) watched, they saw him writhe and noticed the scream becoming distorted, more feral. After closing his eyes, Ichigo opened them again, the raging headache rising along with his other spirit, that of his hollowed spirit or inner Hollow's laughs.

Rukia shrieked. Ichigo's eyes… In the bathroom an hour ago, this had started when they had turned brown but now… now they were… gold. They looked like the eyes that shined through his Hollow mask, gold with the whites now black. But there was Ichigo in those eyes, the kindhearted boy who had brought the Soul Society to its knees while trying to rescue her. Those caring eyes, staring on in agony and confusion. "I-i-ichigo?" She stammered.

Ichigo turned and stared at her, his gold and black eyes glinting behind his cocky scowl. "Is something wrong Rukia?"

Seeing those eyes looking at her, Rukia shuddered. "Du-does anyone have a mirror?"

A mirror was quickly found and handed to Rukia who showed it to Ichigo.

Ichigo stared. "No… this is not possible. I'm not in my hollowfied form, how ca- how…" Ichigo began to gasp. "No! Get-get away!" He roared at the people standing there, "Run! Get away from me, I feel it coming!"

Rukia, realizing what he was talking about, quickly jumped back. After a few moments, Yamamoto's eyes went wide as he realized that Ichigo was about to hollowfy. Kenpachi on the other hand just looked on in confusion until Uryu pulled him back and drew his bow. "Stay back, you don't know what he's capable of!"

At that moment, Ichigo hollowfied. Instead of a boy with feral eyes and a mask, Ichigo was now a full-fledged hollow, white armor glistening and offsetting the red stripes. He now stood at over 9 feet with a long whip-like tail flicking back and forth. However, one look at his eyes eased Rukia's fears. She saw those calm hazel eyes, though narrowed in pain, they still were Ichigo's. "I'm fighting him but it's hard!" Ichigo screamed, his voice having a twinge of the beast in it. Spikes glistened from his shoulders and his hair was long but somehow it was still Ichigo.

After a few minutes, Ichigo fell, changing back to human. Quickly, Yamamoto bound his body with special spirit chants and the group waited for Ichigo to wake.

Ichigo opened his eyes to find the other four staring at him. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't hurt anyone did I?" As he went to wipe sweaty forehead, Ichigo noticed that he was bound. "Scythe?" He asked.

Rukia nodded.

"Brings back memories, doesn't it Rukia?" Ichigo said then turned to Yamamoto. "You should know that if… if that happens again, I've easily broken a Scythe before. Before I became a Soul Reaper, Rukia used it on me and inmy anger, I broke through. I don't know if you have something stronger but you may want…" Ichigo broke off. "I think I'm about to change again!" Ichigo's school uniform began to change into a ragged shihaksho.

At this, Rukia let out a side of relief. "He's not going to Hollowfy."

Ichigo's eyes changed to brown, his hair turned black, and glasses formed over his eyes. Instead of Ichigo, Zangetsu was laying on the floor at their feet. "Wh-where am I?" He said in his deep voice.

"Who are you?" Yamamoto demanded.

"I-I, this isn't possible, I should be in his… I'm Zangetsu."

At this, the group jerked back in shock. Yamamoto recovered and spoke up, "You are Subsitute Soul Reaper Ichigo Kurosaki's Zanpakuto spirit?"

"Yes. You must be Captain Yamamoto?"

"I am."

"And you, I'd know you anywhere. Thank you Kenpachi Zaraki for helping Ichigo get stronger."

Taken aback, Kenpachi stared for a moment before speaking, "Zanpakuto cannot appear, how are you here?"

"You are wrong. I am sure you are aware that there is a released form and an unreleased form to every Zanpakuto?" Zangetsu asked.

"Of course."

"There is a third form. Occasionally, the Zanpakuto will manifest outside of their wielder's mind. If the wielder can push the Zanpakuto into submission, the third form, Bankai is released, a form of ultimate power for a Soul Reaper. If I am correct, most of the users of Bankai become captains and those that aren't are almost guaranteed a Lieutenant's spot. As for how I am here, I have no idea. I did not choose to come here and I most certainly didn't mean to do it so far from Ichigo."

"You are not far from Ichigo at all." Yamamoto said. "In fact, the body you are using was his just a few moments ago."

"This is strange. Not only am have I somehow manifested, I am also in Ichigo's body. I do not know what is going on but since I am here, I have a favor to ask." Zangetsu said.

"What is it?"

Deep in his mind, Ichigo woke up in time to hear Zangetsu speak his next words.

"I have never wanted to protect Karakura Town or anything else Ichigo has wanted to protect. What I have wanted to protect was Ichigo himself. I ask that you protect him when I cannot. His power is almost gone and by all rights, he should not be able to use Soul Reaper powers. I believe that he will completely lose his powers within the week. Please." Zangetsu's voice began to fade, "Please take care of Ichigo…"

As the last word faded, Ichigo was now back in his own body. "I-I never knew." He stammered.

Rukia looked at him, "I never knew this could happen."

"We will have to keep Substitute Soul Reaper Kurosaki here for observation." Yamamoto said.

Ichigo nodded and then spoke. "If you must keep me here, I would like to be kept in the Squad 13 Barracks."

At that moment, Chad and Orihime appeared, their entrance ignored by the rest of the group.

"Why Squad 13?" Rukia asked.

"With all due respect, I don't want to be held by a man who only cares about the rules. Soi Fon is… too trigger happy for me. Unohana is creepy and Byakuya hates me. Sajin's a great guy and all but… And I don't want to deal with Shunsui's drinking. Kenpachi'd try to kill me and Mayuri gives me the creeps. And Toshiro's not a guy I'd get along with. But I've always liked Captain Ukitate. You know, he was the first one to accept me as a Soul Reaper. The first captain that is. And he's the one who gave me this." With that, Ichigo broke the Scythe and showed the group his Substitute Soul Reaper Combat Pass. "And I've always wondered what it would be like to be in a Squad. I won't be a part of one but I might be able to hear about it."

Yamamoto thought about it for a moment before he nodded. "Substitute Soul Reaper Ichigo Kurosaki, your request has been granted."

As Yamamoto said this, Ichigo began to shake and change. This time, the shihaksho that appeared was white as well as his face. As soon as it was over, the stranger spoke up in a high pitched voice. "I warned you king, if you didn't watch out I'd get you. I have waited for this Ichigo!"

"Who are you?" Rukia asked.

"Me? Ah so you're the girl. I am Ichigo's hollow and I! No, stop… I'm in control! Leave me alone!"

Ichigo woke up on a wooden floor. He took a look at his surroundings before speaking up. "Wh-where am I?"

A girl nearby gasped and ran off while a guy with a strange haircut grumbled and spoke up. "You are in the prison cell in the Squad 13 barracks."

Ichigo sat up. "Where's Captain Ukitate?"

"I am here." With that, the frail white haired Joshiro Ukitake walked in with a chair. As he entered, the other man ran off, leaving Ichigo and Captain Ukitake alone.

"So Old Man Yamamoto let me stay here?"

Captain Ukitate coughed, blood falling into his hand. "Yes. You'll be watched while you are here but it has been a while since I have seen you Ichigo."

"Yeah, you too. Was that blood?"

"I've always been sick."

Ichigo sighed. "I know I'm going to lose my power so I wanted to say… thank you."

"For what?"

"For everything you've done. You've always cared for Rukia and when I showed up, you seemed to always support me. If it wasn't for you, I don't know if I'd even be alive today. I just wish there was something I could do to thank you."

Ukitate stared at Ichigo in shock. "But you have. You defeated Muramasha and Aizen. I don't think that there is any Soul Reaper here that doesn't owe you thanks."

"But I did that because Karakura Town was in danger."

"Even so… Ichigo, what's wrong?"

Ichigo was now grabbing his head and screaming. His school uniform was now a shihaksho that was changing from black to white and back. His hair kept switching from orange to black, giving him the appearance of a tiger. As he screamed, his voice kept deepening then lightening. All Ukitake could do was stare in shock at what was happening.

"Ichigo!?" Ukitake asked.

Ichigo looked up. His eyes were gold with the whites now black and ragged. Over them was a pair of black sunglasses. His hair was long and straight but still the typical orange. His shihaksho was half black and half white and the only thing familiar was the scowl. Suddenly, he spoke. "Get out of my way!" A blow broke the iron bars and the strange figure shot off into the night.

After a few moments, Ukitate stood up and ran to the Head Captain's office. Just one look at Yamamoto was enough as the Soul Reapers were mobilized. All across the Seretei, the alarm bells were ringing and squads were covering every inch of the city. At last, Renji Abari, Byakuya's lieutenant caught sight of Ichigo and followed him out of the city. Still the two ran until Renji saw Ichigo jump over a large cliff without using any of his powers. With a heavy heart, Renji returned and delivered the bad news.


	3. The funeral: Ichigo?

Toshiro Hitsugaya grumbled in anger as he stepped out of the Senkaimon. Why did he have to be the one to do this? Not only was he small, many thought he was a child. Now he'd have to deliver the news to Ichigo's friends and family but how would they take him seriously? He was shaken out of his musings when he realized he was at the Kurosaki Clinic where Ichigo's family lived. He quickly steeled himself and then rapped on the door.

"Hello, who is it?" A young blond girl opened the door and looked at Toshiro. Luckily, he had gotten a Gigai before and so she could see him.

"My name is Toshiro Hitsugaya, I've come to give you some bad news. May I come in?"

…

With that, Toshiro was quickly led up into a family room. After a few moments, an acquaintance of Toshiro's, Karin Kurosaki came in. However, the identity of the person behind her caused Toshiro to jump up from the couch and gasp. "Captain Shiba?" He asked.

Isshin Kurosaki, Ichigo's father was also surprised. "Third Seat Toshiro Hitsugaya?"

"It's Captain now."

"Hi Toshiro!" Karin said, "You going to play soccer with us again?"

"No Karin. I'm only here to give you some news."

"What is it?" Isshin asked.

"Ichigo died around an hour ago."

The blond girl looked at him in shock before crying. Next to her, Karin stared in shock.

"How did it happen?" Isshin asked.

"Lieutenant Abari said that he ran off a cliff and didn't use his Soul Reaper powers. Unfortunately, we were unable to recover the body."

Isshin closed his eyes. "At least he died a Soul Reaper. I know that he loved his job."

"Out of respect to Ichigo, you have been invited to the Soul Society for his funeral tomorrow."

"Was anyone else invited?"

"Yasutoro Sado, Orihime Inoue, and Uryu Ishida are already at the Soul Society. I have orders to extend this invitation to Keigo Asano, Tatsuki Arisawa, the employees of Urahara Shop, and Mizuiro Kojima."

Isshin nodded, "Yuzu, can you go to Tatsuki's house and bring her here?" The blond nodded. "Karin, go to Keigo's. I'll go to Urahara shop. If you could stay here Captain, we'll be back soon and you can tell everyone here."

…

Normally, Soul Reapers would be wandering the streets of the Sereitei or would be lounging in their barracks. Today, the Soul Reapers were gathered on Sokyuku Hill where Soul Reaper Captains were once executed before Ichigo came along. Instead of an execution however, they were gathered for a funeral. It was the first time that normal humans, Visored, Soul Reapers, Quincies, Arrancar, and Espada would be gathered for anything. Somehow, Ichigo's friend, former Espada numer 3 or the 3rd strongest of the strongest hollows had found out and after a few minutes of negotiation, Nell had been allowed to stay. Though some of the Reapers had been stunned to see Isshin, none made a fuss of it as everyone was staring at the empty coffin in front of them.

Rukia stepped forward. At the insistence of many, she had been selected to give the boy's Eulogy, something that would bring a lot of secrets to light.

…

"Ichigo Kurosaki was… brave. When I first met him, I was a simple Soul Reaper, the third seat of the 13th Squad. I was following a high powered spirit energy when I found a hollow. There was a boy helping a spirit girl run away. That night, I followed the energy to his house. Not knowing he could see me, I was talking to myself and just came through his window. However, I was surprised when he kicked me in the head. Later, his family was attacked by a hollow. He quickly charged it with no idea of what he was doing, thinking that if he died it would stay away. I intervened and was struck down by the hollow." Rukia looked down at the coffin before continuing. "It would have taken away innocent lives so I asked him if he wanted the power to defeat the hollow, temporarily of course. Even after he found out that he would have to jab my sword into his gut he didn't hesitate, just gave me his name, I gave him mine and then the sword went through." Rukia gasped for breath as she looked around. "When the Soul Society found out what I had done, I was hunted down to be killed. Even against Soul Reapers greater than me, he refused to back down, refusing to let me be taken. My brother struck him down and I coldly told him to stay there and live. He-" Rukia broke off, tears falling. "He led a group of his friends into the Soul Society, with his powers growing stronger he took on the Soul Reapers and saved me. Then, he learned that some of us were traitors and agreed to help them. After that, he was made a Substitute Soul Reaper and given the jurisdiction of Karakura Town. He defended it against any enemy, even taking the fight to the home of the Hollows, Heuco Mundo." Her voice got softer. "There he met Nell. We all knew she was an Arrancar but she was so little we all thought of her as a child we were taking care of. Little did we know that she was an ex-Espada. After that, we rescued Orihime and then, a few months later, Ichigo sacrificed his powers to take down Aizen. He was worried about it though. I think that Ichigo would have preferred to die as a Reaper, with the power to help everyone. I'm sorry that he had to die."

…

After a few minutes, she spoke once again. "Ichigo changed the Soul Society. We Reapers were always thinking ourselves superior to humans. Then four humans defeated most of us, even Captains. Ichigo even changed my brother. Though he rarely shows it, Byakuya seems to be more caring. Even the beast of the Sereitei, Kenpachi Zaraki respects him. Ichigo gives everyone he meets hope. If anything, Ichigo has united three worlds and even in death, he still does. Thank you." And with that, Rukia rubbed the lid of the coffin and sat down.

Genrie-Sai Yamamoto stood up. "After consulting with the other twelve captains, I have decided to allow Ichigo's family and human friends free passage to the Soul Society in order to visit his grave." Yamamoto took a deep breath. "As Ms. Kuchki said, Ichigo has united us and shown us that we cannot be the people we have always been. As such, I am allowing all the Visored to return to duty as Soul Reapers. I also appoint Roijuro Otoribashi to the position of Captain of Squad 3 if he chooses to accept. I also appoint Shinji Hirako as Captain of Squad 5 and Kensei Mugurama as Captain of Squad 9. I also wish to appoint Rukia Kuchki to the long vacant post of Lieutenant of Squad 13. Joining her posthumously will be Ichigo Kurosaki." Yamamoto then turned to Isshin. "It has also come to our attention that Captain Isshin Shiba is alive and was Lieutenant Kurisaki's father. An invitation to rejoin the Soul Reapers is extended to him with the permanent assignment of Karakura Town. Kisuke Urahara and Tessai Tsukibashi are also cleared of any crimes and are invited to their former squads as seated members. That is all."

One Day Ago

As Ichigo fell, his body changed, becoming an oversized katana. The katana spun and slipped through a hole, finally landing point down on a boulder in a forest. As the blade struck the boulder, wedging itself into the rock, Ichigo Kurosaki awoke to find himself in his inner world of skyscrapers and blue skies. Though he did not know it at the time, he would wait for many years until the sword he now lived in was pulled from the stone.

After the Funeral

Mayuri Kurotsuchi grumbled as he entered his lab. Somehow that Kurosaki had done more harm than good. Now he'd have to deal with those Visored in the squads and orders that the Quincy was not to be harmed. Thankfully, he had completed his machine to locate the Reishi of all Soul Reapers and their Zanpakuto in the Human World. Though it only gave a general area, it would help him keep tabs on the rest of the Soul Reapers. He eyeballed the map, noting that there were no Reapers in the world. But… what was that!? Noticing a signature in France, Mayuri clicked on the signal.

Signature Type: Zanpakuto

Name: Zangetsu

Reaper: Ichigo Kurosaki

Location: Sceaux France

Mayuri was stunned. A Soul Reaper's Zanpakuto could not survive without the Reaper who wielded it. This meant that Ichigo Kurosaki was… "He's alive!?"

…

After the shock wore off, Mayuri found himself entering the Barracks of the 1st Squad. He quickly burst in and cut off the Head Captain with the news. "He's alive, Ichigo Kurosaki is alive!"

Yamamoto's mouth fell open as he digested the news. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. One of my projects traces Zanpakuto and Soul Reapers stationed in the human world. I checked it and saw that his Zanpakuto is in France."

Yamamoto stared for a moment before sending the messangers of the Soul Society, the Hell Butterflies to the Captains.

…

_Attention all Soul Reapers and Humans. We have located the Zanpakuto of Ichigo Kurosaki. All Lieutenant and Captain level Soul Reapers as well as human guests are to assemble in the Squad 1 Barracks for an urgent meeting. Again, All Humans, Lieutenants, and Captains are to assemble in the Squad 1 Barracks for an urgent meeting._

…

Not ten minutes later, the Captains including the three former Visored, the lieutenants including Rukia, and Ichigo's friends and family were at the Squad 1 Barracks. The guards there were busy with Kisuke, Nell, and another Soul Reaper, Yuroichi.

"For the last time, none of you may pass. You for one are to leave now that the funeral is over." A guard said, turning to Nell. "And both of you are neither Captains nor Lieutenants."

"And yet I am a Captain Level Soul Reaper. Also, you let in another Captain level Soul Reaper." Kisuke said calmly.

Hearing the commotion, Yamamoto quickly went to investigate before speaking. "All three may pass. However, you are to guard the Arrancar at all times."

At this, the group was shown into the large room where they were ordered to sit off to the side with Ichigo's family and friends.

After everyone had settled, Yamamoto began the meeting. "Around twenty minutes ago, it was brought to my attention that Lieutenant Kurosaki may not have died. Captain?"

Mayuri then spoke up. "After various incidents, I had my Squad create a computer that tracks the movements of all Soul Reapers and their Zanpakuto in the Human World. This device was completed shortly before Lieutenant Kurosaki's funeral. When I returned to the Barracks, I noticed a single Zanpakuto signature on the device and after analyzing it, I discovered that it belonged to the Lieutenant. As we all know, Zanpakuto cannot survive without their Soul Reapers, leading me to the conclusion that the Lieutenant may be alive."

The reaction was immediate. Although they did not know the terminology, Yuzu, Karin, Mizuito, Keigo, and Tatsuki were on their feet, cheering at the news. Several of the Reapers were stunned and Nell had grabbed one of her guards into a hug.

"Silence!" Yamamoto ordered. "Now where was this signature located?"

Mayuri sighed. "We only have an approximate area. It appears the Zanpakuto is somewhere in a district of Paris France known as Sceaux. We do not have the ability to pinpoint the location any further."

Yamamoto thought for a moment before speaking. "I am dispatching Soul Reapers with the exception of Isshin Kurosaki and Captain Ukitake to Sceaux in order to locate the Zanpakuto. Everyone is to receive a translator and search the area, bringing the sword to me as soon as it is found. That is-"

"Pardon me." Uryu interrupted, standing up to face the Captains. "I believe that I can help as well. I am skilled at reading Reishi."

"You may also help if you wish."


	4. The hunt

Sceaux France

Jeremie Belpois stretched as he got up from his computer. The 13 year old blond had been thinking about his history as a Lyoko Warrior. One year ago while looking for parts for some robots he was building, Jeremie had discovered a supercomputer in a factory next door to Kadic Academy which he attended. After turning it on, Jeremie had discovered a virtual world named Lyoko as well as a girl he had named Maia. After this, it soon became apparent that a program known as XANA had developed a consciousness and was bent on controlling the world. After he and three others had discovered how to stop the attacks, with him materializing the others onto Lyoko to fight, he had decided to leave the computer on so as to materialize Aeilita (which was Maia's real name) onto Earth. After accomplishing this, it was apparent that Aeilita was connected to Lyoko and that shutting the supercomputer would kill her. When they had managed to break the connection, a new Lyoko Warrior (as the group was called) was captured and then controlled by XANA. However, the day finally came when he was freed and the computer shut down. Now it was the holidays and Jeremie had decided to go for a walk.

A typical nerd, many wouldn't think that Jeremie was physically fit. However, when the growing threat of XANA was at its peak, Jeremie had forced his team to take a "boot camp" from their gym teacher Jim. However, Jim insisted that Jeremie do it too and when XANA attacked, Jeremie had used his new training to save Jim's life. Though they were from different worlds, Jeremie and Jim had become friends and Jeremie had continued to attend Jim's Boot Camp. As a result, he had developed the habit of taking walks or runs in the trees around campus.

Jeremie was jolted from his thoughts by Jim's voice, "Hello Jeremie!"

"Hi Jim!"

"You going for a walk?"

"Yes sir."

Jim smiled and waved the boy on with a quick, "Be back before dark!"

…

After a few minutes, Jeremie was in the trees and setting a decent pace. Before he could start thinking again, he noticed a man in a black robe and a strange hat. The man, a person who didn't belong on campus seemed to be looking for something. Curious, Jeremie called out, "Hello there!"

Sajin Komamura turned at the voice of a boy in a grey sweatshirt. Looking around, he then asked, "Are you talking to me?"

"Well yeah. I've never seen you before. Are you a new teacher at Kadic?"

"No, I'm looking for something. It belonged to a friend of mine."

"Mind if I help?"

"Well…" Sajin paused. "Of course. I'm Sajin Komamura."

"Jeremie Belpois."

…

The two walked together for a while until Jeremie heard the other mention that his head was beginning to sweat. "Well why don't you take that hat off?"

Sajin stared for a moment before speaking up. "You don't mind?"

"No, go ahead."

Sajin removed his hat to show that he had the face of a fox, fur and all. After a quick jerk back of surprise however, Jeremie quickly shrugged. "So what are we looking for?"

"A sword."

As the words came out of Sajin's mouth, something caught Jeremie's eye. "Like that one?"

Sajin turned in the direction that Jeremie pointed. After checking the reishi around it, the fox-man nodded and walked over to it, Jeremie following. "This must be the unreleased form of Ichigo's Zanpakuto, I've never seen it before."

Before Jeremie could ask, Sajin grabbed the sword and tried to pull it out of the boulder it was stuck to. After a few tries, he stepped back to rub his hands. While he did so, Jeremie decided to give it a try and grabbed the sword.

When he touched it, Jeremie felt something stirring inside him. However, he ignored it as he pulled the blade. With no effort, it came free and Jeremie handed it to Sajin.

Sajin took the blade and after saying goodbye to Jeremie, he returned to the Soul Society. As he made his way, he felt as though he had to give the blade to Captain Ukitate, the feeling being so strong that he found himself standing in front of the Squad 13 Barracks.

…

Captain Ukitake was shocked to see Sajin standing there, holding a sword out to him. As he stared, the fox man spoke up. "This is yours, here."

With a shrug, Ukitake took the blade and as Sajin left, he sank into sleep.

Ichigo Kurosaki's/Zangetsu's Inner World

When he awoke, Ukitake found himself on a strange surface that he quickly recognized as the side of a skyscraper. Confused, he looked up to see three people looking at him. The person on the left was a man with dark brown hair, a pair of sunglasses, and a ragged black shihaksho. The one to the right, also unfamiliar, was white with orange hair, a strange expression, a white shihaksho, and sinister gold and black eyes. However, Ukitate recognized the person in the middle. There, in a black shihaksho was Ichigo Kurosaki.

"Ichigo, you're alive?"

"Yes. Somehow, I've become a Zanpakuto spirit and must wait for my Reaper." Ichigo smiled a quick half smile. "However, he is not ready to become a Reaper yet and I needed someone who I could trust to give me to him when the time is right."

"Me?"

"Of course. I needed someone who could let go of me easy but a person I could trust all the same. I know you don't blindly follow the Head Captain and so I decided to entrust myself in your care. The spirit to my right is Zangetsu, my Zanpakuto and the one to my left… he doesn't have a name yet but he is the spirit of my Inner Hollow."


	5. A new Soul Reaper

Two Months Later

Months passed in both worlds. After Sajin reported that he had met a human who could see Soul Reapers, Yamamoto had put every Reaper in a rotation to watch him. Jeremie had become used to these visits and learned about the Soul Society from some of them. Even more shocking, Ukitake hadn't been sick ever since he had been given Zangetsu, who he kept hidden at all times. Now a meeting had been called and Ukitate was just standing at his place in the Barracks of the 1st Squad.

"It has been two months since we began the search for Lieutenant Kurosaki's Zanpakuto. Though we searched every inch, we were unable to locate it. The signal has vanished as well and so I must call off the search for the Zanpakuto."

…

In France, Jeremie woke up to the pounding of his door. Swearing, he opened it to find his friend and fellow Lyoko Warrior, Odd Del Robia. Odd was just as he sounded, an oddball who kept his blonde and purple hair in what he called "Lyoko Style," sticking up at a point.

"What is it Odd?" Jeremie said.

"Kiwi's missing!"

Kiwi was a… mutt that Odd had smuggled into school. He was a white dog with the build of a pincer who was the size of a Chihuahua. Though he wasn't allowed at school, the Lyoko Warriors kept his secret as he had become an official mascot for the group.

With a sigh, Jeremie quickly shut the door and changed before opening his door and going with Odd to look for his dog.

…

After giving Jim a cover story, Jeremie was wandering around Sceaux, hunting for the dog. While checking an alley however, he was stopped by a sinister voice. "Give me all your money!"

Jeremie sighed, wishing for the first time in his life that he knew how to fight. However, he quickly explained that he didn't have any money, a fact that displeased the stranger. Soon, the man had a gun to Jeremie's temple.

…

In the Soul Society, Ukitake was drinking a cup of tea when he heard Ichigo's voice. _It is time. You must hurry and go to Sceaux France._

With that, Ukitake cornered Yamamoto and asked him if he could take a shift watching the stranger. In no time at all, Ukitake was in Sceaux, running in the direction that Zangetsu was pulling him. He saw a man with a gun to a boy's head and quickly drew Zangetsu.

Jeremie saw the man run up to him with a familiar looking sword. Quickly, he hollered, "Please sir, help me! He's going to shoot!"

The criminal turned, his gun firmly pressed to Jeremie's temple. Seeing no one, he cursed at the boy, telling him that there was no one there.

Ukitake darted toward the boy but instead of helping, he ordered Jeremie to open his hand and pressed the sword into it. As the fingers curled around the blade, the gun went off and a rush of Spirit Energy, Reishi threw the criminal and Ukitake back.

Mayuri was staring at the screen of his locator, puzzled by the sudden reappearance of the Zanpakuto. Strangely enough, it was overlapping Captain Ukitake and his Zanpakuto. After a few moments, he saw the energy signature of another Reaper appear. When he checked his databank however, he was alarmed.

Signature Type: Soul Reaper

Name: Unknown

Zanpakuto: Zangetsu

Location: Sceaux France

Mayuri quickly printed the information off and rushed it to Yamamoto, startling the old man out of a meeting he was having with Captain Komamura. "The Zanpakuto Zangetsu has reappeared and it's found a Soul Reaper!"

"Who is it?" Yamamoto asked.

"None of us." Then Mayuri paused and then passed the slip of paper over. "But before we got this reading, it said that Zangetsu's Soul Reaper was Joshiro Ukitake."

…

Jeremie stared at himself. When he had been shot, he had blown out of his body, holding the sword he had been given. Now as he looked down at himself, he saw he was wearing a black robe just like the person who had handed him the sword. "What is going on?"

"You have just become a Soul Reaper." Ukitake said with shock.

"A what?"

Somehow, Ukitake had Soul Candy in his pocket. This he handed to Jeremie before speaking. "A soul charged with protecting the dead. Your job is to send good souls to the Soul Society where I come from and-"

"I've heard of the Soul Society. It's where people who are not bad go. But the bad ones go to Hell and the corrupted ones are cut down. The corrupted ones, Hollows are struck with special spirit weapons that purify them and send them to the Soul Society. But are you saying that I…"

"Those that do that are the Soul Reapers. That sword is your Zanpakuto."

"But Sajin said it belonged to a friend!"

"It did. But now it belongs to you."

"So am I dead?"

Captain Ukitake checked. "No. Just line yourself up with your body on the ground and you'll return to your human form."

With that, Jeremie did so, standing up and wondering where his Zanpakuto went.

Captain Ukitake threw a Soul Pager, used to track Hollows at Jeremie. "That'll tell you if there's a Hollow nearby. Use the candy I gave you to leave your human body and use your sword to cut the mask of your opponent. If you see anyone with chains coming from their chest, hit them with the butt of your sword to send them to the Soul Society." Captain Ukitate began to walk away before turning around, "I did what you asked Ichigo and I hope that you treat him well."

"What is your name?" Jeremie asked.

"Captain Joshiro Ukitake. And what is your name?"

"Jeremie Belpois."

…

As soon as he appeared back at the Squad 13 Barracks, Captain Ukitake was shocked to find himself marched to the Squad 1 Barracks. There he was questioned by Yamamoto.

"How long have you had Zangetsu?"

"Since Captain Komamura gave it to me."

"Why didn't you give it to me?"

"Ichigo asked me not to."

"And when did he ask you this?"

"A few minutes after Captain Komamura left."

"How?"

"He's a Zanpakuto Spirit now."

"And who was the Soul Reaper you gave him to?"

"He said his name is Jeremie Belpois. He is-was a 13 year old boy. Ichigo asked me earlier to go to Sceaux and give him to Jeremie. A few seconds after I did so, Jeremie received a bullet wound to the head and was pushed into a full Soul Reaper form. I left him some Soul Candy and a Soul Pager as well as some instructions on fighting Hollows."

At this, Yamamoto closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again. "Very well. I am assigning Lieutenant Kuchki to Sceaux in order to keep an eye on him and train him. She will transfer to the new Soul Reaper's school and classes. I hope that I am not making a mistake."


	6. Rukia

A few short days later, Rukia Kuchki and Kisuke Urahara were standing at the entrance of Kadic Academy. Kisuke passed Rukia his new address before driving off, leaving her to walk up the steps. When she entered the Principal's office, she received her sleeping assignment before being escorted to class.

Jeremie was listening to his science teacher, Ms. Hertz as she discussed brass and other alloys. As Ms. Hertz turned to the board, Jeremie took the time to eyeball the other three Lyoko Warriors in the class. Behind him, Odd was drawing a picture of Kiwi while his pal and fellow Warrior Ulrich Stern was playing a game of tic-tac-toe. At the table next to him, his crush Aeilita Schauffer was taking notes while trying to ignore the person next to her, the annoying Sissi Delmas. Jeremie turned as he heard the door open.

In walked Principal Delmas and a black haired girl who looked Asian like Yumi. The Principal quickly introduced her as one Rukia Kuchki before leaving. After he left, Rukia was asked to sit next to Jeremie. Jeremie couldn't help but notice that the mention of his name had given the stranger a start but she simply walked over and pulled out some paper.

As the class resumed, Jeremie couldn't help but notice that while the girl understood French, she was writing in Japanese. When class ended, Jeremie walked over to visit his friends but was stopped by Rukia. "Excuse me, could you show me around, ah… Jeremie?"

Jeremie sighed before waving at his friends and giving the girl a tour.

"And this is my room." Jeremie said, showing Rukia his room. As he turned to move on, he found himself flat on the ground. Getting up, he saw Rukia shut and lock his door. "What are you doing?" He asked.

"Where have I heard that before?" Rukia asked.

"Pardon?"

"Nothing." Rukia said before turning to him with an angry expression on her face. "I hope you realize what you've done."

"Done?"

"My Captain is in a heap of trouble thanks to you."

"Captain? Wait. You're not a Soul Reaper are you?"

"Co-Lieutenant of Squad 13, Rukia Kuchki."

"Wait, Sajin said that there was only one Lieutenant per Squad."

"You know Captain Komamura?"

"We've met before."

Rukia slid down to her knees. "Well I have been assigned to teach you to be a Soul Reaper."

"May I ask who your Captain is?"

"Captain Joshiro Ukitate."

"Wait, he's the person who gave me my Zanpakuto."

"I kn-" Rukia broke off as she heard a beep. Grabbing a strange cell phone that Jeremie recognized, she stared at it a moment before putting it away. "That's strange."

As the beeping continued, Jeremie pulled his laptop computer out of its case and opened it up. Somehow, it was registering that there were problems with the traffic lights, problems that could only mean one thing. "XANA."

"What?"

"Nothing." With that, Jeremie got up and tried to get past Rukia. However, she was firm in her stance.

"You are not going anywhere until you tell me what this XANA is."

Jeremie thought for a moment and then. "A computer program that wants to take over the world. My friends and I are the only ones that can save it."

"Alright." Rukia got up. "Let's go."

"Us?"

"I need to see how well you fight."

"I don't fight. I monitor everything."

Rukia however appeared not to hear. With a sigh, Jeremie followed her out only to run into Aeilita, Odd, and Ulrich. Aeilita summed up what they all were thinking. "What are you doing with HER? And what is the problem?"

"She knows. And XANA…"

Jaws dropped and the group quickly ran outside the school into the park. Along the way they ran into the tall dark and handsome William and Yumi, a dark haired Japanese girl. Although they tried to keep William away, the boy insisted in at least being there when they flipped the switch. The group then made their way to a manhole cover and entered the sewers.

**A.N. I broke it off on purpose. I felt that reactivating the Supercomputer had to go in the next chapter. For the diehard fans, I want to let you all know how the normal Warriors will look. All of them will look like their normal season 1 Avatars because I think the Season 4 and 5 ones are ugly. However, Ulrich will still have his double swords but done Samurai Style. Odd will have the unlimited arrows but he will regain the Future-Flash. And Yumi will have the powers of Season 4 but the look of Season 1. If you don't like it, go write your own fanfiction, I just think they look hideous. Obviously, William will have his normal appearance before XANA. Now with that cleared up, I still don't own Code Lyoko (Property of Moonscoop) or Bleach (Studio Pierott)**


	7. Lyoko reactivated

Knowing what to do; Odd, William, Yumi, and Ulrich grabbed propped up skateboards and rode them away. Aielita grabbed one of the two scooters that were there, leaving Rukia to double up on Jeremie's. At last, they hopped off and climbed a ladder to another manhole cover. Then they ran into a building and swung down some ropes and into an elevator. Next, Jeremie punched in a code and they all were transported to a room with a strange cylindrical object.

Jeremie turned. "Moment of truth, do we activate it?"

William opened his mouth to say yes before remembering that he was possessed by XANA for months. Finally, he nodded slowly.

Before anyone else could speak, Rukia pushed past Jeremie and grabbed a lever that she guessed was what everyone was talking about. She then spoke up, "If it is a false alarm then you can just turn it off right? If it isn't, talking about it will just take time away." With that, she slammed the lever down.

…

Up in a room with a strange map and a large computer system, Jeremie was sitting in a chair and examining the map. "Ok, it looks like we have all four sectors running." Jeremie pushed some buttons before the map changed. "And Sector 5 is good as well. Odd, William, you stay behind. Aeilita, Ulrich, Yumi, go ahead."

…

After a few minutes, Jeremie got the ok to start transferring the three to Lyoko. He quickly began typing something.

"What are you doing?"

"Starting the program to get them there." Jeremie said. Finally he was ready, "Ready to go guys? Transfer, Aeilita. Transfer, Ulrich. Transfer Yumi. Scanner Aeilita, Scanner Ulrich, Scanner Yumi. Virtulization!"

…

After that, Rukia, believing they were now able to talk asked Jeremie, "So why don't you go to Lyoko."

Jeremie blushed, "Because only two of us are good at this and because my avatar on Lyoko is stupid."

"So about being a Soul Reaper…"

"I have enough to worry about here!"

"You have more to think about than your little game!"

"Yeah? School, Lyoko, boot camp, I don't have time for this Soul Reaper garbage!"

"It is not garbage, you wore a Shihaksho, you are one of us! Gawd I thought Ichigo was bad."

"I am not your stupid Ichigo!"

"He is NOT stupid, at least he cares about his home enough to die for it. You were given a second chance how about you go and take it!"

"The guy missed!"

"At point blank range? There was a bullet in your forehead! You died!"

"ALMOST!"

…

On Lyoko, a samuri, geisha, and elf were staring at each other. Jeremie was shot? Finally, Aeilita, the elf spoke up, "Um Jeremie, can we get some info?"

…

"Now I have to do MY job so shut up and let me do it!"

"Oh so you'll only do the job you thrust on yourself but not the one that really matters?"

"YES! Guys, blocks at 12 o'clock."

"You just like being on the sidelines and being a selfish person who has everyone else do your dirty work for you!"

"I will have you know that I have put my life on the line many times!"

"Oh yeah? Name one!"

"I saved my Gym Teacher from a wild boar!"

"Oh, so one time?"

…

Though they were fighting, the others were secretly listening to this.

"He's busted." Ulrich the Samurai said.

"Oh yeah. Oh, there's the tower Aeilita." Yumi the Geisha said.

…

"… Well there was that one time when I…"

"I thought so. You just get to sit on the sidelines. You've never really fought. You don't know what it is like to see your life flashing before your eyes, to have blood pouring from every cut in your body, to have to grab onto one small kernel of strength and use that to give everything you have. And now you say that you are saving the world? You haven't fought once. Not really."

…

Aeilita was standing on a strange platform with a screen. She put her hand on the screen and saw the word AEILITA appear. Then, she punched in a code, LYOKO. Next thing she and the others knew, she was exiting the scanner with shouts coming from above.


	8. The path less travelled

The three who had just returned appeared but Jeremie and Rukia were busy yelling at each other about a cell phone.

"When your Soul Pager goes off, it's your duty to fight!"

"I DON'T fight!"

"Oh, that's right, you let everyone else do it."

"Only because I'm the only one who can operate the computer!"

"I thought you said that Aeilita could!" Rukia shrieked while putting on a strange glove.

"Not as well as I can!" Jeremie noticed the glove. "What is that?"

"Since you won't use your Soul Candy, you'll have to use my glove."

"No, what are you?"

Rukia ran at Jeremie and while the others watched, pushed him to the ground with her glove. As he fell, Aeilita noticed a strange hazy figure appear. The others on the hand were mobbing Jeremie's body.

"What did you do to him!?" Ulrich asked.

"I removed his soul." Rukia said, drawing out a Peez dispencer.

"You WHAT!?" Yumi asked.

"We'll be back in half an hour." Rukia said as she popped a candy into her mouth.

Now in black, Rukia and Jeremie were standing over their bodies. Rukia turned to hers which now had a fake soul in it, "Chappy, just stay here and guard his body."

"Yes Lady Kuchki." Rukia's body said.

With Aeilita following, the two ran off, Jeremie marveling at how Rukia seemed be holding back her speed. At last, they got to the lawn of Kadic where a huge monster was roaring.

"What is that?" Jeremie asked.

"That is a Hollow."

"I can't fight that!"

The Hollow turned, looking at Aeilita.

"Still can't fight it?"

"No."

"If you don't, she dies."

Jeremie, shaking all over squeaked out, "Ok, what do I do?"

"Draw your Zanpakuto."

Jeremie pulled the sword from a sheath on his back and stared at it. "So I hit him?"

"Go for the mask."

The Hollow was drawing nearer and nearer to Aelita. With a burst of adrenalin, Jeremie stood in front of the monster, sword pointed at its face.

Aelita gasped, what had once been a blur was now Jeremie staring down a monster with a strange sword in his shaking hands. "Jeremie?"

The Hollow dived down, the sword came up, and the Hollow's mask split before it vanished. Shocked at what he had done, Jeremie dropped his sword and sank to his knees, crying.

Rukia knelt down, "You did good Jeremie, and it went to the Soul Society. Now it won't hurt anyone else."

"I killed it."

"It was already dead."


	9. New additions

The next day, the group was gathered in Jeremie's room as Rukia explained. "The body you see is actually man made. I am actually a soul who lives in another world called the Soul Society. I was stationed here to teach a new Soul Reaper…"

"What's a Soul Reaper?" Odd asked with a shiver.

"A Soul Reaper is a soul that sends souls of the dead to the Soul Society where they live. If a soul doesn't go to the Soul Society, it becomes corrupted and turns into a Hollow. A Hollow is a bad soul that seeks to eat the souls of others with high spiritual energy."

"So none of us are going to be targeted?" Ulrich asked.

"Ulrich, Aelita, Yumi. When I knocked Jeremie to the ground yesterday, did you see anything strange?"

"I saw a hazy object. I followed you and saw some hazy stuff but then I could see Jeremie blocking me from a strange monster." Aelita said.

"Aelita, you have a high concentration of Spirit Energy. You and Jeremie will be targeted."

Jeremie groaned.

"While I'm here and training Jeremie, I'd like to help you with Lyoko." Rukia said.

"But!" Jeremie yelled.

"I'll be taking one of you away at times so it is only fair."

William nodded. "If we train her slowly, we can avoid earlier mistakes. Also, why don't we learn how to operate the computer?"

Jeremie grumbled. "Alright, tomorrow is a Saturday. We can teach you all then." Jeremie thought for a moment.

"Jeremie?" Aelita asked.

"Nothing, it's a dumb idea."

Everyone looked at him until he conceded, "Well if I have to train Rukia, I was thinking we could try expanding and pick someone who is always there…"

Some of the group groaned, thinking he was talking about Sissi. Rukia on the other hand asked Jeremie to continue.

"Someone who has helped us many times."

"WHO!?" The group yelled out.

"It's a dumb idea but why don't we show Jim?"

The others looked at him for a moment.

"Well we did trust him before when Aelita was getting devirtulized…" Odd said.

"He's always going on about how he's done some stuff before." William said.

"It would be nice to have an adult on hand." Ulrich said.

"I think we should." Aelita said.

Jeremie looked stunned. "Well if you all are sure…"

…

Rukia woke up at six in the morning. Her roommate, Sissi was angry at being woken up. "What is the meaning of this!? I'll have you know that my father is…"

"The principal of the school, I know that." Rukia said, throwing on a dress. "Sissi, sometimes your father won't be able to help you out of danger." Rukia said.

Sissi opened her mouth before shutting it. Something about what Rukia said was familiar. It made her think about a strange factory. Though her mind had been wiped many times, somehow she was remembering several monsters that had attacked her. "I-I remember this giant teddy bear and this strange gas and…"

Rukia turned to her. "Just because you have a powerful family doesn't mean you are immune to anything. I'm part of one of the four great families in my home. Even so, I've had my share of problems."

…

At last, the gang was at the factory. It was agreed that they would train Jim after Rukia. After some pushing and prodding as well as a vote, it was determined that Jeremie would go to Lyoko as well so that he could learn how to fight in a safe place before taking on Hollows. A large debate went up about whether everyone would go. Before they could solve this though, the elevator doors swung open to reveal, Sissi.

"Sissi?" the group asked.

"I did say that I wanted to see what I looked like on Lyoko." Sissi said, flipping her dark brown hair over her shoulder.

"You remember?" Jeremie said in shock.

"Rukia said that I couldn't rely on my father and as soon as she said that, I started to remember things."

Jeremie and the rest of the Warriors looked at each other, everyone shaking their heads.

"You all said that she always gets in the way right? She is also the principal's daughter so at the very least, we can have her go once and then make up cover stories, right?" Rukia said.

Jeremie sighed. "You have to promise not to tell anyone. That's why you weren't picked before."

"I know I swore before but this time I'll do it."

At that, the Warriors except Jeremie and Aelita started a rock-paper-scissors tornament to see who would virtualize the group first. At last, the winner was decided as Yumi. Rukia, Jeremie, and Sissi took the elevator to another room which they would use to go into Lyoko.

The elevator doors slid back to reveal three cigar tube like things. The three walked out to them before Jeremie gulped. "Ok, I'll go first. My avatar isn't preferred so you'll have to use the scroll all function. Aelita, you'll be virtualizing Sissi and Rukia and then use Mr. Cheesehead to do yourself."

Yumi's voice called out. "Ok Jeremie, I found it. Your avatar was removed so I'm using a blank for you. Aelita says that it should be the same one though."

Jeremie entered into one of the tubes which promptly closed.

"Ok Jeremie, don't forget about the drop." Yumi said and began typing. "Transfer, Jeremie. Scanner Jeremie. Virtulization!"

…

On Lyoko, a strange group of white pixels came together before changing into a blond haired boy with a peter pan getup and a sheathed sword on his back. After a second or two, the boy, Jeremie landed on the ground. "Alright Yumi, you did it."

…

Yumi got up from the chair she was sitting in and walked to the elevator while William, Odd, and Ulrich were seeing who was going to go next. At last, Ulrich was sitting down and waiting for Yumi to give the OK.

_Go for it._

"Alright. Er… Transfer Yumi, Scanner Yumi, Virtualization?"

…

Finally, Odd and William were going through the motions until Odd was at his seat. "Alright Ulrich, now that we've switched roles I'll try to do this right. Here we go! Transfer Ulrich, Scanner Ulrich, Virtualization!"

…

After a few minutes of coaching, Aelita stepped back and watched as William went through the motions. "Transfer Odd, Scanner Odd, Virtualization!"

…

Now that everyone else was gone, Aelita slid into the chair. "Alright guys, William you've done this before so you know the drill. Rukia, Sissi, go into one of the three scanners in front of you and stand there. Hold still while I'm scanning." The three in the scanners heard some rapid typing for a few minutes. Though she remembered seeing people do this before, Sissi quickly muttered a prayer that was cut off by Aelita's voice. "Transfer William, transfer Sissi, transfer Rukia. Scanner William, scanner Sissi, scanner Rukia. Virtualization!"


	10. Training

On Lyoko, Jeremie had found a weapon he didn't know he had, a virtual rendition of his Zanpakuto. Next to him, Odd in a purple cat costume was laughing at the stupidity of Jeremie's outfit. Yumi was shaking her head at them while Ulrich was trying not to laugh. Above them, they saw William forming, followed by Sissi and Rukia. At last, William fell to the ground in a pale blue body suit with a Zweihander. Next, Sissi fell in a white cheerleader outfit with knee high boots. As soon as she got up from the ground, Rukia was landing in a crouch, her black robes blowing in a virtual breeze. They waited a few minutes before Aelita appeared in her typical elf costume.

"Wow, I look cool." Sissi said.

"This isn't a game Sissi. Check and see if you have any weapons." Ulrich said in a tired voice.

Jeremie was examining his weapon while Rukia pulled out a sword that looked just like her own Zanpakuto.

"Oh, I have a baton." Sissi said in disappointment.

"It's more powerful than you know. My fans are pretty powerful as well." Yumi said.

"We all have a secondary ability as well." Jeremie said.

"Mine is Super-Sprint, I can run at fast speeds. I can also Triplicate or divide myself into three." Ulrich said

"I had Future Sight but Jeremie removed that. Now all I have is the ability to run on all fours." Odd said.

"Actually," William said. "I saw you have that again. Oh and I have Super-Smoke. I turn into smoke and race around."

"Mine is Telekinesis." Yumi said.

"And I can fly with wings and use my Create ability." Aelita said.

"I don't know what I have though." Jeremie said.

"I saw a Fairy-Dust ability." Yumi said.

"And Sissi you have a Hover ability. Rukia, you have something called grade 2 Shunpo." Aelita said.

"Oh, I forgot, Jeremie, you have a Grade 1 Shunpo." Yumi said.

"Alright, I'll go first." Odd said.

"I'll spar with you." Ulrich added.

The two stood in the center of a forest path with Ulrich holding a pair of swords while Odd was holding his hand in a strange way. After a few moments, Odd yelled out, "Laser Arrow!" at that, an arrowhead flew out of his glove and headed toward Ulrich. Ulrich swatted it away with a sword and then was busy diverting a large amount of arrowheads. After a few minutes, Jeremie called a halt and the boys moved away.

Sissi stood opposite Yumi, knees shaking with nervousness.

"Don't worry, just block my fans with your baton." Yumi said, throwing one at Sissi.

Using skills she had picked up from following the others, Sissi easily sent the fan back at Yumi. Curious, she threw the baton and watched in shock as it turned into a strange energy disk that Yumi barely had time to block. Upon discovering Sissi's ability, the two went at it before they stopped to give way to the next pair.

William held his Zweihander, prepared to throw it at Aelita. She conjured a ball of energy and the fight was on, each throwing and dodging. Occasionally, William would dart forward with his Super-Smoke before popping up to slash Aelita. In turn, Aelita would conjure a barrier with the two going at it like old rivals. Finally, it was Jeremie and Rukia's turn.

"Yumi, did you see a Sode no Shiriyuki ability?"

"I saw something that said First Dance before I just gave up with figuring it out."

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" Rukia said, her sword now having a lace ribbon hanging off of it. "Jeremie, this is the Shikai or released state of one's Zanpakuto. It is activated by calling out your Zanpakuto's name and a quick command. My Zanpakuto is Sode no Shirayuki and her command is Dance."

"But I don't know my Zanpakuto's name."

"If you listen, you will learn it. Though it looks like a sword, your Zanpakuto is actually a spirit that lives in your mind. You can communicate with it in several ways. For now however, we'll just work on some swordsmanship."

After a crash course in swordsmanship, Ulrich called it a day. After the two fighters stood down, Aelita asked Odd to take her out. Odd obliged, firing several shots before she vanished. A few moments later, the rest of the group was also back on Earth, everyone heading home.


	11. Jim joins the group

Sissi grinned. "That was amazing. My laser baton is amazing!"

"Man it feels good to use some Laser Arrows." Odd said.

Ulrich opened his mouth but shut it as the group ran into Jim.

"Hey Jim?" Jeremie asked.

"What is it Belpois?"

"Are you busy tomorrow?"

"No?"

"Can you meet us at the school gates at 8 then?"

…

The next day, Jim was pacing back and forth in front of the school. After a few minutes, he saw Aelita and Jeremie come out. "Sorry, Odd slept in again."

"What is this about?"

"Well…" Jeremie said. "You know how we always sneak off a lot?"

"Yes."

"We've entrusted you with this secret before and after thinking about it, we decided to trust you with it once more. It's too hard to explain so we'll wait until everyone gets here."

At last, Sissi and Rukia showed up. Rukia quickly explained that Ulrich and Odd were right behind them, a fact that was proven true by their entrance. A minute later, Yumi was walking up to them, shaking her head. Soon after that, William walked over. "So we're going through with it?"

"Yes William." Jeremie said.

…

At last, the group was in the computer room. "This is Lyoko." Jeremie said, pointing to the map by the screen. "Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, and I found it and protected it while I tried to bring a resident there, Aelita to Earth. The day we did that, you found out and helped me get over there after injuring my leg. As soon as she was on Earth, we shut it down but Aelita collapsed. Along the way, we decided to recruit William but he was taken and possessed. As soon as we got him back and broke the connection between Aelita and Lyoko, we shut it down. Two days ago, we had to activate it again as an evil computer program that rules Lyoko somehow got out and we had to get in to fight it. Yesterday, we entrusted Rukia with the secret and after a fluke accident, Sissi. We were going to introduce Rukia yesterday and you today."

"Alright so what do I do?"

"You have to swear never to reveal the secret of Lyoko to anyone, even Principal Delmas."

"I swear."

"Alright." Jeremie said, typing something on the computer. "You won't go in today but we'll scan you so you won't be affected by trips to the past. After that, we'll…" Jeremie broke off when he heard an alarm. Quickly, he saw that a control tower on Lyoko had been activated. "Alright, it looks like you'll have to wait Jim. XANA's just activated a tower. Odd, Aelita, Ulrich, you'll go while William guards the school."

"So now what happens?" Jim asked.

"As soon as they get to the Scanners, I'll start a program to break down their DNA and turn it into data. Then, they'll appear on Lyoko. It'll be Odd and Ulrich's job to keep any monsters at bay while Aelita deactivates a control tower. Because XANA uses towers to influence the real world, William will be at the school guarding against any threats." Jeremie explained.

_We're here Einstein!_ Odd's voice said in Jeremie's ear.

"Alright, they're there. Now I'll start the program." Jeremie quickly typed something out before speaking. "Transfer Odd, transfer Ulrich, transfer Aelita." As he spoke each name, a card showing their Lyoko avatar popped up until there were three side by side. "Scanner, Odd, scanner Ulrich, scanner Aelita." Now, the cards were getting color until they were all colorful. "Virtualization!"

…

Ulrich, Odd, and Aelita arrived to find themselves in a land of ice and water. Not seeing a tower anywhere, Ulrich quickly spoke up, "Mind sending the vehicles?"

…

Jeremie typed something up before two more cards appeared. "They're on their way."

…

Ulrich quickly mounted a one-wheeled motorcycle while Odd hopped on a hover-board. Aelita touched a button on her bracelet and triggered a pair of wings. Together, they set off before Jeremie gave them some bad news.

_A couple of Megatanks and some Kankerlots are on their way._


	12. Code: KIWI

As Jeremie, Jim, Yumi, Rukia, and Sissi watched, red triangles met up with the three white ones that represented the group. Occasionally, a card would show up with one of the boys' avatars on it along with a round black ball's card or a strange bean shaped enemy. While communicating with the group on Lyoko, Jeremie explained to the newcomers, "Everything has life-points. An attack will do a certain amount of damage. When you run out of life-points, you are devitalized. The only way to do any damage however is to hit the strange eye on your opponent's body. We however can be attacked anywhere on our bodies."

Jim looked at the screen, "Wait, so if Aelita gets hit 10 more times then she gets devitalized?"

Jeremie looked at the screen, "Aelita, you only have 10 life-points, what are you doing?"

_Jeremie, they snuck up on me!_

As Jeremie and the others watched, Aelita's card went grey and her icon vanished from the screen. A few minutes later, she sighed before explaining. "It's pretty bad out there, I tried to stay out of the way but then I got fired on before I knew it. We may have to bring in another team."

Jeremie frowned. "Alright, I don't know how we'll deactivate the tower but I'll send Yumi in." At that moment however, Ulrich's card also went grey. With a sigh, Jeremie added, "And Rukia."

After Yumi and Rukia had been transferred, Jeremie was shocked to hear an alarm. He tried to figure out what was going on before Jim pointed to the white cell phone in Jeremie's pocket.

With a sinking heart, Jeremie pulled out his Soul Pager. "Rukia? Can you come back here?"

_I'm a little busy, what's wrong?_

"Hollows."

_Give Aelita the computer and use your Soul Candy to get into Soul Reaper form._

"I can't do it! Last time was a fluke!"

_There's too many of them for me to return. One false move and all three of us are down. You're a Soul Reaper, you can do it._

Face pale, Jeremie took off the headset he was wearing. "Aelita, I have to go."

Aelita thought for a moment, "We need to get a program for that. I'll stay here and keep an eye on things."

With that, Jeremie handed her the headset and grabbed his Soul Candy. "Well, here it goes." With that, he popped a pill into his mouth and his body fell to the ground before getting up.

Jim gasped, "What… why are there two Jeremies?"

"What are your orders?" The soul in Jeremie's body asked.

"Stay here." Jeremie said, running off in the direction that his Soul Pager was showing him.

Jeremie ran off, grumbling under his breath. The Hollow was in the city and pretty far away from Kadic. At last, he made it to the Hollow and pulled his sword out before defeating it. Right as he was in the middle of sheathing it, another appeared and another. At last, he made it back to the factory and into his own body.

"So how did you do?" Rukia asked.

"There were ten of them."

"What!?" Rukia roared.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Rukia checked her Soul Pager. "I've been ordered to return to the Soul Society."

Jeremie started swearing until he heard another alarm and checked it to see that he had a message on his phone. At first, the message was in Japanese before switching to French. "So have I. But I don't have to go… do I?"

Rukia nodded. "You're a Reaper. Even if you haven't been admitted to a Squad yet, you have to follow orders."

Aelita, watching the screen, sighed in relief. "The path to the tower is clear. Odd's going to try and get in."

As one, the group stared at the screen, saw Odd enter the tower, and then Aelita heard a gasp.

_Hey Aelita, how do I deactivate the tower?_

"What does it say?"

_At first it said Odd and now it's asking me for a code._

"Try Lyoko."

_It didn't work."_

Aelita stared at the screen and then,

_I just tried a few and for some reason KIWI did._

**A.N. I picked codes that hold meaning for the Warriors. Since Aelita only knew Lyoko in the beginning, she uses that as a code. The thing that holds most meaning for Odd is Kiwi. **


	13. The Seretei

After Odd and Sissi returned, Jeremie spoke up. "I have to go with Rukia. Odd, if anything goes on, you and Aelita will man the computers. Sissi, Jim, and William are the only ones who can go so they'll have to be careful."

With that, Rukia popped a Soul Candy into her mouth, followed by Jeremie. She then gave orders for their replacements to take care of homework and stay in their rooms unless there was class. With Aelita and Jim watching, they then stepped through a set of doors that appeared.

…

After running through a dark corridor, Jeremie was stunned by the white buildings that stood in front of them. Curious, he turned to Rukia, "Where are we?"

"This is the Senkaimon Hill. We're in the Sereitei."

Jeremie looked around in shock at the opalescent white buildings that shone off the glittering sun. Before he could say anything though, a voice broke the silence.

"I see you've brought the new Reaper, Lieutenant Kuchki?"

Rukia turned, "Yes Head-Captain."

"I summoned you both here because we have been getting strange readings from an abandoned building off of the Seine."

At this, Rukia and Jeremie shared a look before Jeremie spoke up, "I have an idea of what that may be but it must not get out to anyone else."

Yamamoto sighed, "Whatever information you have will only be brought up to the Captains."

Rukia's eyes shot up before Jeremie nodded. "Rukia has all the details but I'll give you the short version. In that factory is a supercomputer that runs the programs for a virtual world known as Lyoko. After discovering Lyoko, some friends and I found a program, XANA that had gained artificial intelligence. XANA's goal was to essentially take over the world by taking over programs on Earth. After many battles on Lyoko, the only way to stop the attacks, we finally shut down the supercomputer, believing the attacks had stopped for good. A few days ago, we were led to believe that XANA had somehow reawaken, prompting us to start the supercomputer up again."

Yamamoto listened to this before nodding, "This is consistent to our readings." He then thought for a moment, "How many of you are there?"

"Well, there's the original team, me, Ulrich, Yumi, Odd, Aelita, and William. Yesterday we added two more members and with the addition of one today we have nine." Jeremie said.

Yamamoto looked at Jeremie for a long moment before speaking up, "I can tell that there is something you wish to ask."

"If I am to be a Soul Reaper as well as a Warrior, I need to be able to plug my Soul Pager into the Supercomputer."

Yamamoto thought about that for a moment before running off.

"So he's the leader of the Soul Reapers?" Jeremie asked.

"He's the head of the captains but he answers to Central 46." Rukia answered quickly.

"Listen, I need to know…" Jeremie trailed off.

"Know what?"

"Who is this Ichigo you keep mentioning?"

At this question, Rukia sank to her knees. After a few moments, she spoke up. "A hero."

"Here." Captain Yamamoto had finally reappeared, throwing new Soul Pagers at them. Though Rukia quickly switched out her old one, Jeremie was reluctant to do so, eventually pocketing both.

…

"Lieutenant Kuchki, Lieutenant Kurosaki's family wishes to speak with you." Captain Yamamoto said after a long pause.

"WHO IS ICHIGO!?" Jeremie yelled.

…

As they walked to Sokyugu Hill, Rukia spoke up, tears in her eyes. "He was a human that for the longest time we believed was not meant to become a Soul Reaper. When he put his life on the line to protect his family, I became injured. Knowing there was only one last chance to take down the Hollow that was attacking, I put his life and mine at risk by passing him a portion of my powers temporarily. However something went wrong. Instead of giving him half my powers for a few weeks, I gave him all of it forever. To pass on your powers to a human is punishable by death but when the Soul Society found out, Ichigo fought tooth and nail to stop them from taking me. As my brother stood to give the final blow, I pleaded with him to let Ichigo live and ordered the boy to stay and live.

"Instead of moving on with his life, Ichigo led an invasion of the Soul Society and eventually rescued me. Before anyone could get me back, it became apparent that some of the Soul Reapers were traitors. Though he wasn't one of us, Ichigo helped oust the traitors and was made a Substitute Soul Reaper. After many fights, Ichigo sacrificed his powers to save everyone. As his powers began to leave his body and he began to turn back into a normal human, Ichigo died. After he died, it was decided that he would be promoted to Lieutenant posthumously. Not long after that, his sword was found in Sceaux, France only to be discovered by a boy who could see us, you."


	14. Code: Zangetsu

Aelita stared in horror at the screen. Apparently XANA was attacking again and now Jeremie was gone. With a sigh, she activated the call program, knowing she had to get William, Jim, and Sissi. Before she could finish putting William's number in however, she saw two strange doors slide open from nowhere to reveal Jeremie and Rukia.

Jeremie took one look at the screen before sliding into his own body. With a look in his eyes that never had been there before, Jeremie slid into the computer chair and began typing. Noticing he didn't have much time, Jeremie activated a new program that allowed for multiple calls to be made, he quickly had Sissi, Jim, and William in a call. "XANA's launched another attack and everyone else needs a few more hours before their avatars have reset."

Sissi noticed her phone was ringing. "Daddy? Can you hold on a moment? I think that's Jeremie calling about tutoring me." With that, she walked out of her father's office before answering the phone.

_XANA's launched another attack and everyone else needs a few more hours before their avatars have reset._

"Now? Alright, let me go grab my textbook and then I'll be over." Sissi said, eyeballing the door.

William glanced at his phone before nodding to Yumi and Ulrich, "It's Jeremie." He then answered it, "William here."

_XANA's launched another attack and everyone else needs a few more hours before their avatars have reset._

"XANA's launched an attack. Looks like I'm on call. Jeremie? Ulrich and Yumi are with me. Want them to keep an eye on things?"

_Yes._

"He says you guys are on guard duty."

_XANA's launched another attack and everyone else needs a few more hours before their avatars have reset._

Jim gulped. "How did you get this number?"

_Jim, you're missing the point._

"Oh yeah, yeah right." Jim did some goofy martial arts poses before turning to his phone, "I'm on my way."

At last; Jim, Sissi, and William were behind Jeremie. As he had gone through this once before, William knew that Jeremie was about to give a briefing.

"Tower activated in the Desert Region. We don't see any activity Earthside yet but it's only a matter of time. Jim, Sissi try to keep back if possible. I don't know if XANA's found a way to remake the Scypozoa. If he has, he may be looking to possess you. I'd rather send at least one old member but unfortunately everyone was called in last time. I'm guessing that William will have the codes needed so don't do anything dumb." Jeremie said.

"Transfer Jim, transfer Sissi, transfer William. Scanner Jim, scanner Sissi, scanner William. Virtualization!"

Now that she knew what to expect, Sissi landed on her feet, taking in the orange-red ground around her. With a chuckle, she held her hand to Jim who had landed the wrong way. Jim was wearing two ammo belts over his bare chest and camouflage cargo pants. Though his headband was gone, his spiked hair stayed put, giving Sissi the image of a commando going into battle. She heard a thump and turned to see William landing, his sword out and ready for action.

Jim stared at himself, flexing his muscles with a boyish grin. As he did so, he felt something on his back and found it to be a sniper rifle. With another grin, Jim popped a few clips off one of the belts and loaded the gun with practiced ease.

"Jeremie, I can get there on my own but some of us are going to need transportation." William hollered.

_I'll send the Overbike and Overwing._

After a few moments, the Overbike and a strange floating scooter appeared. Jim swung his leg over the bike while Sissi hopped on the Overwing. Once they were set and Jeremie had given directions, William activated his Super-Smoke and the group was on their way.

_Jeremie._

Jeremie turned to Rukia, "Did you say something?"

"No."

_Jeremie, ask her about the final battle…_

Though he didn't know what the strange voice was talking about, Jeremie was curious himself. "Rukia? When you say that Ichigo lost his powers… how did it happen? What happened at the final battle"

Aelita turned to the two and listened.

Rukia sighed. "When my brother and his Lieutenant came to take me back, Ichigo fought to stop me from being taken. However, my brother used his Shunpo, his Flash Step to cut Ichigo in such a way that he would surely die. When I ordered Ichigo to stay, I told him to stay there and live just a bit longer. The cut should have ended his powers however…" Rukia licked her lips. "A merchant in Karakura Town, Kisuke Urahara took him and healed him. You remember when I said that there are souls with chains attached to their stomachs?"

"Yes." Jeremie said with a nod.

"The chain slowly disintegrates and when it vanishes completely, that person will become a Hollow. Kisuke forced Ichigo out of his body when he had been healed. Because his power had been ripped away, Ichigo was an ordinary soul with that Soul Chain. Kisuke then gave Ichigo a choice, become a Reaper or a Hollow. Then, he cut Ichigo's chain, accelerating the Hollowfication process."

Jeremie and Aelita stared at her.

"A few days later, Ichigo's chain was running out. As his inner world collapsed due to the Hollowfication, he found the source of his Soul Reaper powers. At that instant, the Hollowfication was complete. When he jumped out of the pit he had been thrown into, Ichigo was part Hollow and part Soul Reaper. Eventually, he mastered his Hollow powers and his Reaper powers. When the second release, Ichigo's Bankai didn't work in the final battle against the traitor Aizen, Ichigo used his Hollow and Reaper powers. However…"

"However…?" Aelita, Jim, William, Sissi, and Jeremie asked.

"However, Aizen had merged with a special power source called the Hokyoku and was too powerful. Luckily, Ichigo's father had taught him the secret of the final attack of his Zanpakuto. The attack used every ounce of his Spirit Power to augment his fighting power. The Hokyoku rejected Aizen and Ichigo struck him down. However, his power was fading and it was only a matter of a time before he would be an ordinary human."

_So now you know my story._

"Your story?" Jeremie asked. Rukia and Aelita stared at him.

_Yes. I became a Reaper to protect my family but I lost those powers to protect the town._

"So you're Ichigo?"

_After the battle, I went back to my normal life. Even so, I was upset by my loss of power. Somehow, I merged with both of my Zanpakuto spirits, the Reaper and the Hollow and became a Zanpakuto spirit myself. When we finally merged, all three of us were in such pain that we just ran. Finally, we changed into our sword form and waited for our new Reaper, you._

"So you are Ichigo?"

_I am Ichigo but I am just one spirit. Our name is… Zangetsu._

"Thank you Zangetsu." Jeremie said. He then turned to the screen. "William, look out!"

William turned, only to be hit by a creature that looked similar to a spider, a Tarantula. The blast hit and William was blasted into bits of data.

Jeremie began typing as fast as he could. Watching over his shoulder, Aelita saw him activate the self-virtulization program, Mr. Cheesehead.

"Jeremie, no!" Aelita screamed.

"Sissi and Jim weren't there when we activated the Supercomputer, I'm the only one."

"Don't!"

Jeremie stared at her, his eyes giving off an expression she had never seen, the one that meant Jeremie was prepared to do anything, even die. "I am going in."

Aelita ran to the computer as the elevator closed on Jeremie. However, before she could reach the keyboard, Rukia grabbed her and held her back.

Sissi flung her baton, noting she was almost out of life points. From behind her, Jim fired another shot, blocking a kankerlot. Sissi took the lull in fighting to look up and gasped in shock as she saw someone forming. Everyone else had gone today so who?

Jeremie fell to the ground, drawing his Zanpakuto as he did so. Gone were the days of running and hiding, only fighting when he had to. Jeremie touched down, racing for the guarded tower as he did so. Occasionally, a monster would get an idea but Jeremie would demolish it before a shot could be fired. Finally, he was inside the tower, easily clinging to the side of the middle platform when he missed the entrance. Without pause, Jeremie sheathed his sword and swung up, walking to the middle of the platform. When he got to the center, he was lifed up to the upper platform where a screen was waiting for him.

Jeremie

Code?

Jeremie grinned, glancing over his shoulder at his weapon before he typed…

ZANGETSU

**A.N. Yes I know that Black Zangetsu is actually Ichigo's Quincy Powers HOWEVER I have not seen this AND Ichigo doesn't know it. Also, I can't accept the fact that White Zangetsu/Hollow Ichigo is his true Zanpakuto because seriously? That dude has some serious issues. SO I am calling Black Zangetsu Zangetsu, White Zangetsu King, and Ichigo Ichigo. I am also sorry for the late posting but I was unable to break what I had written into chapters until now.**


	15. I choose

"Don't forget, read chapters 15-20 of your textbooks!"

Jeremie got up, rubbing his head as he walked off to his math class. It had been several days since he and Ichigo had their "talk" and since then Ichigo seemed to always be in the back of his mind.

"Jeremie!"

Jeremie turned as he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Oh, hi Rukia."

"Jeremie, what is wrong with you?" the Reaper Girl asked.

Jeremie looked up at the ceiling for a moment, "Are Zanpakuto always this chatty?" He asked, looking at her.

"Chatty? Not really. Sode no Shiriyuki always keeps to herself unless she needs something."

"One of Zangetsu's spirits keeps pestering me about a trial I have to face." Jeremie sighed. "Do I work with King? He's so sure of himself but at the same time he's such a wild animal that he scares me. Or do I go with Zangetsu? He's so calm and collected but he's so mysterious. Then there's Ichigo. He's a nice guy but he won't shut up. I just don't know which one to choose first."

"Di-did you just say Ichigo?" Rukia asked.

"Y-" Jeremie broke off as he heard a beep coming from Rukia's pocket. "What was that?"

Rukia pulled out her Soul Pager with practiced ease. "Hollow, not too far from here. Problem is, this signature is fairly high."

Jeremie stared at her for a moment and then started pawing through his pockets. "Oh no."

"What is it?"

Jeremie slapped himself in the face, "I forgot to take my Soul Candy and Soul Pager out of my pants before I threw them in the wash!"

Rukia stared at him, not comprehending what he meant.

"I need your glove."

Rukia stared for a moment. "Oh, right." Rukia then pulled her glove out and pushed Jeremie out of his body. As soon as he emerged, Jeremie reached into his Shihaksho and pulled out a Soul Pager.

"I thought you said that you left it in your jeans!"

"My new one. This is the one Ukitake gave me." With that, Jeremie flipped the pager open, fingering through the options. "Ah, here we go. I figured he'd put a direct link in here." Jeremie then clicked something.

Joshiro Ukitake was filling out a form when his pager rang. Seeing the person calling was apparently him, Joshiro put his pen down and flipped his pager open. "Hello?"

_Captain Ukitake, we've got a problem._

"Jeremie, what is it?"

_Left my Soul Candy and new Soul Pager in my other clothes, we had to use Rukia's glove. Could you keep my body out of the morgue?_

"I'll see what I can do." Ukitake sighed, "You on a job?"

_Mmm, Rukia says the energy signature is a little high but I'm tired of running._

"How are my lieutenants anyways?"

_Annoying and pushy._

Joshiro laughed, "Well, I'd better let you get to work."

At last, Rukia and Ichigo were in Sceaux, looking up at… Jeremie had no idea.

Rukia groaned, "Menos Grande, Gillian Class."

Jeremie turned to her, "Hollow?"

"Hollow."

"Powerful?"

"Very."

Jeremie unsheathed Zangetsu and took a fighting stance. "Howl, Zangetsu!" The oversized katana he was used to now rippled before changing to an oversized kyber knife. Ignoring that for a moment, Jeremie leapt into the air, hit the Menos in the mask, and was flung back, hitting a building on the way down.

Rukia turned, "What happened?"

"Ow… I don't know." Jeremie said, massaging his head.

_King, Zangetsu, or me? Which one will it be?_

"Aw shut up Ichigo!" Jeremie howled, causing Rukia to turn, "I need to fight!"

_How can you fight with a Zanpakuto-less Zanpakuto?_

Jeremie sighed, "How did you deal with him Rukia?"

Still confused, Rukia shrugged, "I generally smack him upside the face and draw on him."

"I don't think I can do that to a spirit."

"What?"

"Nothing." Jeremie then looked at his weapon and talked to it, "Fine, I choose Zangetsu."

A strange, deep voice rang out inside Jeremie's head, _You have a good heart but there is no conviction in it. You can't just swing a sword around and expect to win._

"What do I do Zangetsu?"

_What do you want to do?_

"Fight."

_Then fight._

"I tried that!"

"Jeremie, I don't know what's going on but I need help fighting this thing!" Rukia said, trying to hold the Menos back.

"And I thought Ichigo was annoying, just tell me what to do! How do I fight?"

_Why are you scared?_

At this, Jeremie dropped to his knees, sobbing, "I'm supposed to be the wielder of the blade of the Great Ichigo Kurosaki, uniter of the Soul Society. I'm scared that I am the wrong person.

_I am not Ichigo's blade._

"What?"

_If Ichigo were not a spirit and had stumbled upon that rock, he would not have pulled me from it. You are my wielder, you._

At that moment, Jeremie realized that he had been holding back because he had been living in Ichigo's shadow. With a gulp, he jumped again, able to pierce the Menos before being knocked back.

Instead of slamming into a building, Jeremie landed on his feet. Power swirled inside him and welled up to the surface.

A hand touched his shoulder and a voice spoke from behind him. "Abandon your fear."

Jeremie swallowed and turned around, "What?"

"Look forward."

Jeremie gasped as he was looking at Zangetsu. But, he did as the spirit asked him.

"Move forward and never stop."

Jeremie paused for a moment and then started to run, sword raised.

"You'll age if you pull back."

Jeremie slammed one foot into the ground, vaulting himself into the air.

"You'll die if you hesitate."

The power built and erupted around Jeremie, pushing Rukia back. With a savage swing, Jeremie swung, piercing the hollow.

"So go forward, battle the very air if you have to and never look back."

The sword sank through and the Menos vanished.

"And never, never give up the fight."

Jeremie then sheathed Zangetsu and felt the hand leave him but still heard the voice,

_For if you do, you will never grow stronger._

**A.N. The words Zangetsu spoke to Jeremie are the same ones he spoke to Ichigo. However, I expanded the quote. The original is as follows: "Abandon your fear. Look forward. Move forward and never stop. You'll age if you pull back. You'll die if you hesitate." I decided to add the extra words because I felt the quote was always incomplete and because I wanted it to be Jeremie's own quote, not a reuse of Ichigo's. The part where Ukitake was on the Pager with Jeremie was added for a few reasons, one was humor, another because Ukitate spent time with Zangetsu and all of its spirits, and above all, I wanted to pay homage to my favorite scene in Bleach. I think it was in Episode 5 but while Ichigo and Rukia were walking home, Ichigo asked Rukia where she was sleeping. In turn, she asked him if he wanted to know and when he said no, she ordered him not to ask. Anyway, Ichigo arrives home and his sister Yuzu wants to know where her clothes are. Ichigo shoos her away but then a phone goes off. So then, Rukia slams the closet door open while Ichigo is wondering what that noise was and yells for Ichigo to get down, we've got orders. So yeah, now that I'm done with this Author's Note I'll post.**


	16. Zangetsu

"Come on Belpois, put some muscle into it!" Jim yelled at Jeremie, blowing on the whistle around his neck.

Since the Menos job, Jeremie's body had gone missing. However, after consulting with Rukia, Jeremie decided to go to Jim's boot camp and learn how to get stronger. Though he had gone many times before, it had always been for a few days at the most and he had been here for a week. Now, Jeremie was running miles and wearing out fast. Though Rukia was more in shape than he was, she kept pace with him, easily finding a rhythm.

"Aw come on Belpois, if you're that tired, why don't you put that stupid sword away?" Jim roared.

Jeremie was near his breaking point but instead of giving up, he continued on, summoning all his energy to run and to whisper, "Abandon…abandon your… abandon your fear."

Rukia turned to him, ready to ask.

"Loo…look forward. Moo…move forward and never… never stop. You'll… You'll age if… if you pull back. You'll die… you…you'll die if you hesitate." Jeremie swallowed, "So go forward, battle the very air if… if you have to and never…never look back. And never, never give up… never give up the fight." Jeremie then raised his voice and summoned a burst of energy he never knew he had possessed, "For if you do. You. Will. Never. Grow. Stronger!" Though spots danced in front of his eyes, Jeremie ran faster and faster, sore muscles working to keep him moving. Shocked, Rukia stared at him. In that moment, it was like she was looking at Ichigo, the stubborn boy she had grown to know.

…

Surprised, Jim picked up his pace. After a few moments, Jim blew his whistle. "That's enough Jeremie."

Jeremie slid to a stop before crouching down, panting. "What…what next Jim?"

"It's over."

Though Jeremie was dead tired, he knew he needed to get even stronger than this, "What?"

_Jeremie_

_ "_Zangetsu?"

_My time as your teacher is almost done for now. It is time…_

With Rukia and Jim watching, Jeremie's eyes rolled back in their sockets and he collapsed to the ground, narrowly missing a tree stump.

Jeremie's other world

When Jeremie came to, he saw Zangetsu staring at him from the top of a flagpole.

"I will be brief. What I am about to teach you is not the last I have for you. It is simply the final step in getting my support until you can force it from me." Zangetsu jumped from the pole to stand next to Jeremie, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Though you see the weapon you wield as a simple sword, it has thoughts and feelings as you do. It cries, it laughs, it screams, it howls. Though that is a lesson for later, I ask you to look at that sword not as a sword, but as a multipurpose weapon. Use every part of it from the blade to the hilt to the guard to the wrappings. As you would strive to make your… programs more flexible and integrate as many functions into each one as possible, you must do the same for your blade. With that said, there is an attack that you can use through me. This attack is known as Getsuga Tensha. Though my version is not the strongest, it is still powerful enough to cut through solid ground. To activate it, you must take my advice, pour your energy and strength into the blade, and call out its name. Now, you must go. Good luck, Jeremie Belpois."

…

Jeremie woke up, fingering his sword. However, he realized then that is was gone and found himself in his human body. "Wha… what?"

Jim gasped and bent down, "Belpois, you're alright!"

"Mmm yes."

"We were worried when you collapsed like that." Rukia called from behind Jim.

Jeremie thought for a moment and then spoke up. "How did I get back in my own body?" He asked.

"Alright, start explaining Belpoi-" Jim started.

"Jim tripped over your body and I shoved it back in." Rukia said. "When we checked the pockets we figured out it was Ukitake who did this as there was Soul Candy and a Soul Pager in the pockets."

Jeremie thought about that, got up, and nodded at Rukia before turning to Jim. "You've never betrayed our trust so I'll explain things. Earlier this year, I met a man with a fox's head who said he was looking for a sword that belonged to a friend. I offered to help and he agreed. After a long search, we found the sword lodged in a boulder. The man, Sajin…"

"Captain Komamura." Rukia hissed.

"He told me to call him Sajin. Anyways, Sajin was unable to pull the sword out but somehow I could. The day I got your permission to go into town, I was cornered in an alley with a mugger who had a gun. A white haired man appeared and I pleaded with him to help me. The man only handed me the sword I had pulled and then the mugger shot me point blank."

"What!?" Jim roared.

"Will you let me finish?"

"Right, sorry."

Jeremie turned to Rukia. "Glove?"

Rukia pulled out her glove and now Jeremie was standing there in Soul Reaper attire. "This is how I found myself. The mugger had already run off but the man, Captain Ukitake explained that I had become a Soul Reaper."

"Soul Reaper?"

Rukia picked up the tale. "To put it simply, Soul Reapers are souls that are tasked with protecting the dead and taking them to the other side."

"Right. I later found that the weapon on my back, that sword was a soul, well three souls that were partnered with me." Jeremie took a deep breath.

"And?" Jim said.

"This part not even Rukia knows." Jeremie drew the sword and showed it to the other two. "This sword, Zangetsu contains three spirits. I am told that the first spirit, Zangetsu is the manifestation of my Soul Reaper powers. The second, King is the manifestation of a Hollow or evil spirit's powers. He's really crazy but apparently Zangetsu cannot survive without him." Jeremie turned to Rukia. "And then there is the part Rukia doesn't know. But before I get to that, this sword belonged to a Human who became a Soul Reaper like I did, Ichigo Kurosaki. Ichigo sacrificed his power to defeat a great evil and succeeded. However, most believe he is dead."

Rukia nodded.

"He isn't."

"What!?" Rukia screeched.

"The third and final spirit in Zangetsu is Ichigo Kurosaki."

Rukia gasped. "So it's true?"

"And the reason why this shocks Rukia is because she was the one who turned Ichigo into a Soul Reaper." Jeremie smiled, "From what Ichigo tells me, she actually spent some time living in his closet while she was training him. And no Jim, she is not a human turned Soul Reaper, she is a soul using a fake body to move around in."

Before Jeremie could say any more, he heard a maniacal voice in his head. _Mweeheehee I am tired of waiting. I will not be a horse any longer, I will take that body of yours and claim it for my own._

At that, Jeremie began to writhe in pain, screaming. Before Rukia and Jim could do anything however, Jeremie cried out, "You… are… not! Getting this body!" And the boy straightened up, panting.

"Oh no." Rukia said.

As she watched, Jeremie's eyes faded from a familiar black and gold to his own blue.


	17. King: Inner Hollow

**A.N. Italics are used when someone is communicating out of line of sight where boldface is used when multiple people are hearing what is going on. The people listening in are Shinji and the Visored, Rukia, and Odd.**

For months, Jeremie had to fight the strange presence of King. At first he had strange dreams, and then he began to lose sleep. When he began to be relieved that he would keep it from happening in the daytime, the episodes started up in the daytime. Sometimes there would be crazy laughter, then it would give way to visions. Jeremie's schoolwork began to suffer and the school nurse would bring him in for examinations. However, nothing happened until one day…

…

"Beep Beep Beep."

Jeremie rolled over onto his side, snatching his computer off of the nightstand in the Infirmary. Tired from yet another episode, he flipped the lid and groaned, grabbing his cell phone. Quickly, he sent messages to Aelita, Yumi, and Jim before slipping out of bed and jumping out a window.

…

The mission was progressing like any other. It was a simple run in the Polar Region and Jeremie had Aelita, Jim, and Yumi in Lyoko. But then it got bad fast. Aelita was caught by a boxlike enemy that was called, creatively enough, a Box. Though Jim quickly took it down with a single bullet, Jeremie had to send Odd in as the group was now swarmed with enemies.

…

"I'm sorry Jeremie." Jim said as he stepped out of the elevator.

"It happens. I just wish I knew where Ulrich and Sissi had gone."

"Ulrich's parents decided to pull him out of school for the day."

Jeremie bit his lip, hoping that the two would be enough. However, that changed when Yumi was devitalized, forcing Jeremie to slip out of the computer chair.

…

Odd was fighting a Megatank when he suddenly got a Future Flash. Unable to pull away from them, he watched as he saw Jeremie appear. As soon as the boy changed however, his face began to change into something feral. And then he began to change into…

Odd was snapped out of his vision as he was hit by a Megatank. Luckily, he was at full health. However, he heard Aelita ask Jeremie if he was ready to transfer. "No Aelita, don't bring him here!" Odd screamed.

Unfortunately, Aelita had just uttered the final command and Odd watched Jeremie appear.

Jeremie landed on his feet and reached back to grab his sword. Unfortunately, King chose that moment to take over Jeremie. Tired of fighting, Jeremie was thrown out of his own mind.

…

Now Jeremie was transforming into a huge nine foot tall or taller white beast with red markings. Frightened, Odd ran over to Jeremie, only to be knocked into the air by the other boy's tail.

Luckily, Odd was able to grab onto some ice but he was now cut off from his friend. Though it was their job to take out any enemies, Odd noticed that Jeremie was completely out of control, rampaging on anything that moved.

..

_Aelita, Jeremie's gone berserk! He's a monster!_

Sitting in the computer chair, Aelita roared into her mike, "Jeremie is NOT a monster!"

_He's going on a rampage!_

"A rampage?"

At this, Rukia grabbed the headset from Aelita's head, gasping into the mouthpiece. "What did you say?"

_Jeremie's a monster, he's going completely nuts. He hit me with a tail and I lost 30 life-points._

At this, Rukia pushed Aelita out of the chair, "Move!"

"What is it?"

"Is that program that you and Jeremie were going on about up and running?"

"Well yeah."

At that, Rukia pulled out her Soul Pager, linking it to the computer. She cycled through the options with Aelita, Jim, and Yumi looking over her shoulder at the screen.

Contacts

Captains

Genryusai Yamamoto

Soi Fon

"Rose" Otoribashi

Rensi Unohana

**Shinji Hirako**

Byakuya Kuchiki

Sajin Komamura

Shunsui Kyoraku

Kensei Muguruma

Toshiro Hitsugaya

Kenpachi Zaraki

Mayuri Kurosuchi

Joshiro Ukitake

Squad 5 Barracks, Soul Society

Shinji Hirako was in his barracks, filling out some paperwork when he was interrupted by a call on his Soul Pager. With a sigh, he set down his pen and picked up the Pager. "Shinji here."

The Factory

Rukia grimaced at the greeting, "Captain Hirako, this is Lieutenant Rukia Kuchiki here."

_Ah, Rukia, what is it?_

"You were a Visorad once right?"

_Still am._

"Well we have a… problem."

_All of us Visorad are here._

"No, it's not one of yours. It's the new Reaper, Jeremie Belpois?"

_Doesn't he have Ichigo's sword?_

"Yes. And apparently…" Rukia activated the program which allowed anyone on Lyoko to hear phone conversations. "Odd, describe Jeremie's appearance in detail, would you?"

_ Jeremie is about nine feet tall with a long white tail with a red tip. Um, he's got yellow irises and black eyes as well as a mess of orange hair. Um… he's pure white with red markings all over and…_

Shinji swore before speaking up, _His inner hollow has taken over his body._

Odd blinked. _But I thought he had to be like… dead to turn into a hollow. And I thought Soul Reapers took down Hollows._

_ Rukia, do you not know the meaning of subtlety?_

"First of all, Jeremie told them, second of all, is this really the time?"

_Right. Is Jeremie unconscious?_

"Um…"

_Assuming he is, he'll be fighting his inner hollow. He has to beat it to get himself under control._

"And then?"

_Then he'll be able to use Hollow powers without going berserk._

"Well he's in a place where he can trash everything he wants to."

_Alright, keep me on the line, I sent hell butterflies to the rest of us._

Jeremie's Inner World

Jeremie stared at King. "What is going on here?" He asked as King slashed at him with a sword that looked almost like Zangetsu.

"I am going to kill you."

Though Jeremie drew his sword, he kept dodging, not wanting to hurt one of the spirits in his sword, even if it was a maniac. "I can't fight you, it would be like fighting myself."

…

Though this was said in Jeremie's mind, Rukia, Shinji, Odd, and the Visored, who had gathered heard it.

…

"I am going to kill you!"

**That look you just gave me is the same look that I've given Aelita at times. It made me realize that I act like you sometimes.**

…

Odd and the Reapers blinked at that.

…

**Yeah, I love her but I don't always get along with her. But that's not my point. My point is that if I kill you or even fight you, I'd be fighting a part of myself.**

…

In the Squad 5 Barracks, Shinji swore. Next to him, Mashiro Kuna thought about that, reluctantly nodding at the logic.

…

**Ichigo says you are the spirit of instinct. Even though instinct is good, it alone is not very powerful. See, instinct drives you to do what you know you must but other forces, love, courage, desire to protect, wisdom… they also give power and strength. Every one of those things are needed and to deny any of them, even instinct would be stupid. You know, Zangetsu told me something. He said, abandon your fear. Look forward. Move forward and never stop. If you pull back, you'll age. If you hesitate, you'll die. So go forward, battle the very air if you have to and never look back. And never, never give up the fight. For if you do, you will never grow stronger. In a way, he's right. But I think, now I think that if you use it right, fear can push you on ever further. I also realized that no one can stand alone. **

In his world, Jeremie summoned his power while he cried out, "So Aelita, Jim, Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, William, Sissi, Captain Yamamoto, Ichigo, Zangetsu, Sajin, Ukitate, Rukia, mom, dad, Herb, Nicholas, Ms. Hertz, Mr. Delmas, everyone, I need your help. Lend me your strength."

…

In his office, Jean-Pierre Delmas froze. He heard Jeremie asking him to help him, to lend him his strength.

…

While listening to his parents yell at him, Ulrich froze. He heard Jeremie ask him for strength. "I'm with you buddy." He said.

…

Herb and Nicolas were sitting on the steps of Kadic Academy. The red head and the pimply black haired boy heard Jeremie Belpois ask for help. Though he didn't like Jeremie's way of showing him up, pimply Herb wasn't going to let a friend of Sissi down. "I'm here!"

Nicholas nodded, "Me too!"

…

"I'm here Jeremie!"

"Take whatever you need!"

"We'll always support you!"

Jeremie's Inner World

Jeremie heard the shouts pour in. Taking strength from each one, Jeremie ran toward his inner Hollow. Closer and closer they came until Jeremie stopped and pointed his blade at King. Unable to stop, King ran into the blade. But at the same time, Jeremie was also pierced. With their blades in the chest of the other, Jeremie walked forward, ignoring the pain of King's blade until he was standing nose to nose with King. Then, Jeremie gave the spirit a hug and was back in the Polar Sector.

Lyoko

"He's human again!" Odd hollered.

…

A few meters away from Odd, Jeremie drew his sword and called upon the instinct welling up inside him. With it, he could feel a Megatank nearby preparing to open its shell at the boy's back. Jeremie stabbed the one in front of him before spinning and stabbing the one he had sensed in the eye symbol. Sensing nothing near him, Jeremie sheathed his sword and deactivated the tower.

**A.N. Yes, I glossed over the fight before the possession. Since Jeremie accepted his inner hollow instead of forcing it to stand down, things will be different from Ichigo's Hollowfication.**


	18. Ichigo

The next day, Jeremie rolled out of bed, happy at the thought of an actual night of sleep. He quickly threw on a shirt and walked over to the park, hoping for a good walk. However, he didn't get that far as Aelita was waiting for him outside his door.

"Hi Aelita."

"Hi Jere, what did you do to your eyes?"

Jeremie stared at her and seeing her expression, ran into the bathroom. There, he took his glasses off and looked at his eyes. While the irises were blue as always, the whites were now a light grey. In shock, the boy backed up, tripping over himself. He opened his mouth to scream but was cut off by a familiar ringtone.

"Where is it?" Jeremie asked himself, digging in his pockets as he walked out of the bathroom. At last, he pulled out his Soul Pager, checking it. "Wait, that's a Menos signature."

"What?" Aelita asked.

"Hm… and it's oh no."

"What?" Aelita repeated.

"A Menos Grande has appeared at Yumi's house!"

"What's a Menos Grande?" Aelita asked.

"Well according to Rukia, there are normal Hollows and there are the really powerful ones. The powerful ones are called Menos Grande." Jeremie then fished out his Soul Candy, flicked the dispenser, and was in his Soul Reaper form. "Stay in my room until I get back!" He hollered, running at a blinding speed.

_It's my turn Jeremie. _Ichigo said.

"Alright so do I have to fight you?" Jeremie asked.

_No. Give me control of your body and pay attention!_

…

Rukia sighed. For some reason, Jeremie wasn't answering his Pager and Aelita said that he had run off, saying something about a Hollow. She looked up from her Pager to see Jeremie streaking toward her, using Shunpo.

"Jeremie!" She hollered.

The boy ignored her. She opened her mouth to yell at him when she caught a glimpse of his face. Gone was the thoughtful expression and the blue eyes. Instead, Jeremie had a very familiar scowl on his face and hazel eyes.

"Ichigo?" She gasped.

"Hello Rukia."

"But… how?"

"No time, gotta fight." With that, Ichigo took off with Rukia matching pace. "Adjuchus or Gillian?" Ichigo asked.

"Gillian."

"I'm starting to wish I had gotten one of those phone things. So, are your drawings still crappy?"

At that, Rukia quickly decked him, causing him to laugh.

Before she could retort, the two were at Yumi's house.

"Well, well, well." Ichigo said. "My first job in a long time and it's a weakling like you? Pity." Ichigo then pushed Rukia away and grabbed his sword. As he did so, it shifted into Shikai, the bandages around the kyber knife encasing his right arm. "Ok Jeremie, class is in session!" With that, Ichigo began to spin the sword by its bandages before darting forward and throwing it. The sword hit the Hollow in the mask, destroying it completely. Before Ichigo could put the sword away, he noticed another one appear. "Getsuga Tensho!" He hollered, causing a blue light to appear and take down the Hollow.

Yet another one appeared and Ichigo slashed that one before another appeared. This time, Ichigo got into a fighting stance and gathered up his spirit energy.

"Ichigo!" Rukia yelled.

"Ban-Kai!" Ichigo was now wearing Zangetsu's shihaksho and holding a black daito with a cross-shaped guard. Using this form, he sped and attacked several more hollows. As he landed by Rukia, she heard him say, "I was worried that I would have to do this several more times." Yet another Hollow appeared, a smaller one that was still powerful. "Adjuchus" Ichigo said. Then he made his left hand into a claw and put it in front of his face, causing a mask to appear. "Hollowfication." He then said, attacking in a more savage fashion than before. Finally, the boy called out, "Getsuga Tensho!" one more time, this time summoning a black beam of light. This destroyed the Hollow and put an end to the attack.

Ichigo sheathed the sword and turned to Rukia. "When you get a chance…"

Rukia stared at him.

"Tell Orihime and Chad I'm sorry. Let my sisters know I'm always thinking about them and thank Goat-Face for me. And Tasuki, Mizuyto, Keigo… tell them I'm sorry for telling them. And tell Kenpachi that I still think he's crazy." Then, Ichigo's face changed, the scowl softened, the irises turned blue, and the whites greyed slightly.

"Ichigo?" Rukia asked.

"That guy's scary." Jeremie's voice rang out.

"But his heart is in the right place." Rukia said.

"I know."

**A.N. So each spirit has had his turn with Jeremie. Is it enough? Can Jeremie fight now? And what is with his eyes? You know how to find out!**


	19. Captured!

**A.N. Sorry for the hiatus. Basically, my computer needed to go in for fixing and when I had to replace it (cost too much to fix) I was out of ideas for my stories. Luckily, I had saved what I had written to my e-mail on almost all the stories I was working on (except a story that was going downhill fast, was not intentionally left behind) Finally, yesterday while playing a game I got a brainstorm on this story and was able to finish a chapter. I am writing several stories at the moment but my main priorities are being published.**

Jeremie was wandering the halls of Kadic, Soul Pager pressed to his ear. "Well sometimes XANA's quiet but it's too convenient for XANA to be quiet for months AND not have a Hollow alert."

Jean-Pierre Delmas walked over, about to tell Jeremie off for using a phone in school when the next words out of the blond's mouth caused him to stop dead in his tracks.

…

"It makes me nervous but thankfully the King incident gave me an excuse to stay at school during vacation. Also, I suppose I should tutor Sissi since that's been her excuse. You know Ukitake, for someone who ran to her father right after she swore she wouldn't, she actually has great excuses."

…

From his place, Delmas was stunned, his daughter had been lying to him?

…

"Yeah, mhm… Oh, sorry Captain, Jim wants me."

Sure enough, Jim was right there. "Jeremie, if you are going to use that, try to make sure you don't talk about secret stuff when Mr. Delmas is a few feet away."

Jeremie opened his mouth when a solution to the problem they now faced presented itself, a XANA alert. "I need to talk to 12's Captain about putting an alert function on my Soul Pager."

Jim slipped Jeremie's computer out of its bag and handed it to the boy.

"Alright, looks like it's two towers." Jeremie said, slipping the computer back into its case.

The two walked away before Jim spoke up, "So, do you know what you're going to do about the lack of Hollows?"

Jeremie paused to check that they were alone using the heightened senses he had gained since his confrontation with King. "If you are going to eavesdrop, try giving me more of a challenge sir."

Delmas appeared, realizing the hiding place he had chosen wasn't very good. "What is going on Jeremie?"

Jim and Jeremie looked at each other and then laughed before Jeremie turned to the man. "It would be better if you didn't know."

"Well how are we going to stop him?" Jim asked.

"There's a program…"

…

At last, the two were in the boiler room with Delmas hot on their trail. As far as Delmas knew, they were arguing over something.

"There it is." Jeremie said, opening a door for Jim. The two walked for a bit before they got to this entrance's vehicles. As usual, there was a scooter for Jeremie and one for Aelita with four skateboards for Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, and William. Like Jeremie and Aelita, Sissi had elected to use a scooter while Rukia and Jim favored bikes.

Jim swung his leg over his bike while Jeremie mounted his scooter. "We still got a trail Jim. And here I thought we'd be done with the skulking around now that you're one of us."

…

At last, Jim, Jeremie, and Delmas had arrived. Now, Jeremie was in the middle of a conversation with the rest of the team "We'll have to hope that the isolation of each scanner will hold. I'll send Jim, Odd, and William in one group and the other will have Rukia, Aelita, and Ulrich." Jeremie broke off when he heard his Soul Pager go off, "Scratch that, second group will have Sissi, Ulrich, and Yumi while Aelita will be operating. I just got a call. Rukia, meet me at Kadic, we'll go from there." With that, Jeremie leaned back, killing the call, "Mr. Delmas sir, I know you probably want to shut this computer down, take us all for questioning, and get the police involved but we can't have that happen. We tried shutting it down and had to turn it on all over again. The only people who know how to keep the school safe are us so you can't take us for questioning and the last time the police were involved, it was a disaster." He sighed, withdrawing a pack of Soul Candy, "The only conciliation I can give you is that you won't remember a thing." With that, he popped the candy in his mouth and was off.

…

Not long after, he and Rukia were standing in a clearing in the woods around Kadic, ready for action. When Rukia jumped forward to attack a Menos, Jeremie stopped her with a shout, "There's something wrong about that hollow!"

"Yeah, it's alive!"

"No, that's not what I mean!" Jeremie saw the Hollow bend down and prepare to knock Rukia down with a swipe. "No, Rukia!" With that, Jeremie jumped over Rukia, knocking her down. He collided with the Hollow but was too late to stop it from knocking her out.

"No, Jeremie!" As Rukia's eyes slammed shut, she saw Jeremie limp in the Hollow's clutches.

**A.N. Skip this if you don't want to know what I am or have been working on. Wow, it's been, what? 6 months? Half a year since I started on my first story. To date, I have written Harry Potter and the Digidestined (Book 1), Harry Potter and the Heart of Fire (HP&tD Book 2), Harry Potter and the Valkyrie (HP&tD 3), Harry Potter and the Broken Past (HP&tD 4) Harry Potter and the Soul Swords (HP&tD 5), Harry Potter and the New Student (HP&tD 6), Harry Potter and the Last Shadow (HP&tD 7.)**

**I have published but not completed The Fairies of Pern and this, The True Story of Ichigo Kurosaki.**

**I have worked on Narnia (Tentative conclusion to FoP and HP&tD), Fyrhart and Scar (A Yugioh based thing I might give up,) Reapers and Alchemists (FMAB Bleach Crossover,) and well that's it but still, in 6 months wow, guess it's true that I have no life! **


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